SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: SUGAR BOMB – “ELI SPECIAL”

SUGAR BOMB – “ELI SPECIAL”

A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE

Asheville-based jazz-soul outfit Sugar Bomb announced this summer their follow-up EP, Explosive, after releasing their debut EP Sweet, this spring. While the first EP showcases the band’s mellow side and compositional chops, this summer’s second EP will reveal their more dynamic side and their improvisational skills.

Their EP’s second single “Eli Special” is the funkiest song across this year’s two EPs and it puts bassist Eli Kahn front and center. Sugar Bomb approaches jazz and its tradition of improvising with electronic production and with a background playing soul/R&B, funk, hip-hop, and more. As Kahn said, “it’s not your grandpa’s jazz.”

The trio said of the upcoming Explosive EP, “it demonstrates this dynamic range on two corresponding sides of the record,” continuing, “this insane improvisational side contrasts against the sensitive, composition-based side of Sweet.”

Sugar Bomb will be self-releasing Explosive this September. While their vinyl is available at the merch table and on Bandcamp, the trio will also compile both EPs, along with bonus tracks, as a full-length project digitally later this year.

ARTIST QUOTE

“I am mostly known for playing a 7-string hybrid guitar and 6-string guitar, but when I moved to Asheville, NC from the Midwest 3 years ago I started playing more bass. I wasn’t finding as much work as a guitarist, and bassists are in high demand. ‘Eli Special’ is the first original tune I wrote on bass and it is influenced by a lot of the funkier types of music that get played here. To me, what sets it apart from the ‘Sweet’ EP is the insane drop that happens after the second chorus — it features sounds that aren’t ordinarily heard in modern jazz and really shows off our drummer Joe Enright’s skills as a producer and mixing engineer.” ~Eli Kahn

Sugar Bomb
[Single]
(Independent)
Release Date: July 9, 2025

Artist Links