Ted Feighan, the producer and visual artist behind Monster Rally, isn’t one to leave well enough alone. Just a couple of months after dropping his vocal-forward, collaborator-stuffed tenth LP Echoes of the Emerald Sands, he’s back with a bonus track — and it might be the grooviest thing on the whole record.

“Cassiopeia,” out today via Flowering Jungle, pairs Monster Rally with award-winning film and TV composer Jay Wadley (I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Tell Me Lies). On paper, a chill beatsmith from Cleveland linking up with a prestige-screen composer reads like an odd-couple sitcom premise. In practice, it sounds like two guys who came up in heavy music figuring out, years later, that the most rebellious thing they could do was build a disco.

“I was really eager to work with Jay on this track knowing how impressive and versatile his work is,” Monster Rally said in a statement. “After I got back some of the first edits from Jay, I was blown away. His drums, bass and falsetto really transform the track into a funky, gritty disco party that you can’t help but want to dance to.”

That funky, gritty disco party is exactly what lands. Wadley’s bassline struts, his falsetto floats over the top, and Monster Rally’s signature warm, sun-bleached textures keep the whole thing feeling like a late-night drive home from a beach bonfire. It’s arguably the most danceable moment in the Monster Rally catalog — which, for an artist who has spent fifteen years scoring imaginary tropical postcards, is saying something.

“Cassiopeia” joins a stacked guest list on Echoes of the Emerald Sands, the first Monster Rally album to feature vocals at all. Collaborators across the record include LEISURE, Sessa, TOLEDO, Munya, Benét, TV Girl, X-Cetra, JORDANN, Nella, Miles Michaud of Allah-Las, Mei Semones, and Jordana, plus a rework of Henry Mancini’s 1961 classic “Lujon.” Feighan also ditched the sample-based plunderphonics that defined Monster Rally from 2010 onward, recording the whole thing from scratch at his Cleveland home studio.

Stream “Cassiopeia” here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4kvSWp46BNHJBhWXqhKQE1

Monster Rally is also hitting the road. After a nearly sold-out Coast to Coast run earlier this year, he’s heading back out with RUMTUM for a Texas swing at the end of May, followed by a Colorado run in August.

UPCOMING TOUR DATES
May 28 — Fort Worth, TX — Tulips*
May 29 — San Antonio, TX — Paper Tiger*
May 30 — Austin, TX — Brushy Street Commons*
May 31 — Houston, TX — Meow Wolf*
August 27 — Aspen, CO — Belly Up*
August 29 — Denver, CO — Cervantes Other Side*
August 30 — Fort Collins, CO — The Aggie*
*with RUMTUM

Echoes of the Emerald Sands is out now via Flowering Jungle. Hit play on “Cassiopeia,” grab a tour ticket, and let the funky, gritty disco party take it from there.