Flea has revealed the release date of his first full-length solo album, Honora, arriving March 27, 2026, on NonesuchRecords.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers founding bassist accompanied the news by sharing LP track “Traffic Light,” co-written with Thom Yorke and Josh Johnson on Wednesday. “Deantoni and I played what became ‘Traffic Lights’ the first day. Something about it reminded me of Atoms for Peace, so I sent it to Thom. Just knowing him, I thought it would be a rhythm and a sensibility that he would relate to. And I was right, he did,” said Flea in a statement. “With a gorgeous melody and the words, you know, about living in the ‘upside down’ and how do you make sense of things when we’re getting all this fake shit and real shit? Everyone has their ways of dealing with the world. But he’s just the warmest, free flowing, jamming motherf*cker.”
Flea, who composed and arranged the music for Honora, which takes its name from a family member, also plays trumpet and bass across the record. He’s joined by producer and saxophonist Johnson, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Deantoni Parks. Yorke and Nick Cave also dive in to assist with the vocals, while Mauro Refosco (David Byrne, Atoms for Peace) and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes) also lend their talents to the upcoming debut album.
Honora features six original songs, including one track co-written by Flea, Johnson, and Yorke, plus interpretations of music by George Clinton and Eddie Hazel, Jimmy Webb, Frank Ocean and Shea Taylor, and Ann Ronell. He previously released “A Plea” back in December.
In a statement sharing how the record came to be, Flea said that one night in 1991, the year the Red Hot Chili Peppers released the landmark album Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Flea was acting in Gus Van Sant’s film My Own Private Idaho and told a friend, “I want to make an instrumental record with deep hypnotic grooves, trippy melodies layered on top, meditations on a groove.”
As he neared his 60th birthday, the musician resolved to practice the trumpet every day for two years and that he would make an album, regardless of where his knowledge or talents ended up. While he at first worried that the band he assembled for the project would think he was “a non-playing motherf*cker, charlatan, rock poseuror fan,” it turned out that “they were all the most genuinely supportive people, movingme deeply and daily with their generous spirits.”
“Sitting in a room and playing the music with them made me feel like I was on drugs,” said Flea. “I was buzzing, tripping and floating around the studio. I love them, they truly gave of themselves. I bow all the way down.”
Honora Track List
“Golden Wingship”
“A Plea”
“Traffic Lights”
“Frailed”
“Morning Cry”
“Maggot Brain”
“Wichita Lineman”
“Thinkin Bout You”
“Willow Weep for Me”
“Free As I Want to Be”
The Honora Tour Dates
May 7 — Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
May 9 — Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
May 10 — Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield
May 12 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall
May 13 — Washington, DC @ Black Cat
May 16 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre
May 21 — Berlin, DE @ Heimathafen
May 22 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
May 26 — London, UK @ Koko
May 28 — Paris, FR @ Alhambra
