Portugal. The Man, “Chris Black Changed My Life.”

We would all be so lucky to have a “Chris Black” in our lives. The titular inspiration for the new album by Portugal. The Man, the Portland band’s first since 2017’s Woodstock, was a close friend of John Gourley and co. He seems like he was the life of the party, and Gourley has said Black was the glue who brought everyone together. Black died in 2019, sending shockwaves through the band, and Chris Black Changed My Life is a sort of concept album about PTM’s grief process.

For the record, Portugal. The Man partnered with producer Jeff Bhasker (Beyonce, Harry Styles, SZA, Mark Ronson), as well as a cadre of alternative music artists like fellow Portlanders Unknown Mortal Orchestra, as well Black Thought and Natalia Lafourcade. While the sound still carries PTM’s eclectic signature (such as on second song “Grim Generation”), it’s fuller, puts Zachary Carothers‘ bass-playing higher in the mix and offers fewer silences.

There’s no “Feel It Still” or “Live in the Moment” on this record, but single “Dummy” comes close in that it makes you think—in this case it’s pondering the end times while pushing your problems away—while enticing you to move your body. There’s a sarcastic quality to its pacing, vocal production and stumbling solo—it might make you feel punchdrunk. This song was actually produced by Berkeley’s Asa Taccone (of Electric Guest and brother of Jorma Taccome), who also produced “Feel It Still.”

“Dummy” bleeds into “Summer of Luv,” a mid-tempo tune that features vocals by Ruban Nielson of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, quotes Maya Angelou and throws in flute blasts and a fat sax solo. This song runs runs into the psychedelic “Ghost Town,” which recalls ’60s organ-heavy bands like the Zombies.

At some point, Portugal. The Man realized the direction this album was heading in, because the penultimate song, “Champ,” is a reworking of none other than early rock keyboardist innovator Edgar Winter’s “Dying to Live.” (Winters is credited for being the first guy to take a keyboard and wear it around his neck). It’s a relatively low-key, slower song, which is perhaps why PTM chose this one over “Free Ride.”

That ’60s psychedelic vibe persists on much of the album, including “Thunderdome [W.T.A],” which features rapper Black Thought and Mexican pop and jazz vocalist Natalia Lafourcade. Old-school organ lines and a vibraslap kick off the tune, before Gourley and Lafourcade chime in, singing, “Jesus was a Mexican/ Walking on the Rio Grand.” Black Thought delivers a reverb-laden hook about three-fourths of the way in. For such a personal album, this song stands out for its big picture, in-the-news theme.

“Time’s a Fantasy” and “Doubt” sound like two halves of the same song. The former is a mellow meditation with high, modulated vocals floating above a cloud of piano and synths. It features Toronto singer-rapper Sean Leon and carries a generally hopeful vibe.

“Got a feeling that things are gonna be just fine,” he coos, repeating the line multiple times as the song winds down. But then! There’s a drum fill that kicks off “Doubt,” which feels like a build-up of the previous song.

“Life is a dead end/ Full of doubt/ Can’t keep my head up/ In the clouds,” Gourley sings. The healing process is not a straight line, it seems to say.

Chris Black Changed My Life ends on the cathartic, nearly six-minute-long “Anxiety:Clarity,” which begins as a mid-tempo tune, and while the tempo never picks up, it explodes two minutes in with a blasting sax, gospel-like organ and nostalgic guitar lines. The song shares lyrics with album opener “Heavy Games II” as Gourley expresses his conflicting emotions.

“I question the feelings I feel,” he sings early on. “I don’t want to let go.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.