Topaz Jones has released a handful of singles following his 2016 album Arcade, but the New Jersey musician is gearing up for something bigger for his next project. On Friday, Jones returned to announce his upcoming album Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma with the electric single “Herringbone,” but that’s not all. The album will debut alongside a short film of the same name, which was lauded as 2021’s Best Non-Fiction Short Film by Sundance Film Festival.
The accompanying visual album was both written and directed by Jones long with directing duo rubberband. The film is a modern day interpretation of The Black ABCs, which was a flashcard set developed by Chicago teachers in the ’70s to allow Black children to learn the alphabet with words that resonated with them. The cards featured messaging like “A is for Afro” and just celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020.
Jones’ Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma album acts as the score for the film, which does not yet have a definitive release date. Speaking about the project in a statement, Jones said the short film further explores the albums themes:
The film is all the things I couldn’t say in musical notes. The music is everything I couldn’t write in words, even though there’s lyrics that speak to it as well, but emotionally, it’s everything I couldn’t necessarily write down and the film is everything that I couldn’t put in song. It is single-handedly the most gratifying, fulfilling experience I’ve had as an artist.
Listen to “Herringbone” and watch the trailer for Topaz Jones’ Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma short film above.