It's About Time: Nile Rodgers Re-works Sister Sledge Out-take "I'll Be There" for First CHIC Album In 23 Years (Warner Bros.)

"It's still hard to believe I found an out-take [with] my original band @CHICorg #IllBeThere," @nilerodgers exuberantly Tweeted late Saturday night; Rodgers, who's essentially the sole founding member of Disco-Funk originators, Chic (now, somewhat confusingly billed as "CHIC featuring Nile Rodgers"), has been pain-stakingly compiling a collection of recently unearthed 1970-80's era Chic tracks along with contemporary producers like Avicii, David Guetta, and The Martinez Brothers. Chic's newly-surfaced material, tentatively titled It's About Time, seems to have been oddly enough reverse "influenced" by modern-day Disco-Funk acts like Chromeo, Dâm-Funk, Tuxedo, Mark Ronson & The Dap-Kings, and even quite ironically, buddies Daft Punk & Pharrell, who were all very likely initially influenced by Chic's genre-shaping output in the first place. "["I'll Be There"] is a moving concept for me about decisions we make in life. We've tried to capture all the nuances in the full-length video and still keep it fun," Nile Rodgers wrote in a #WorldPremiere-accompanied Facebook post/press release.


"Karlie Kloss connects to the past and present. She sees the original group (who plays this track) on Soul Train. She visualizes the past, looking at old school vinyl - then gets dressed and goes out to a current party to meet up with Stephen Galloway and the current Chic line-up happens to be playing live," Rodgers continued. "I'll Be There" is in fact, a re-worked out-take from Sister Sledge's Love Somebody Today album (1980), which Nile Rodgers and since deceased band co-founder, and the track's primary source of influence, Bernard Edwards produced together. It's unclear as to exactly when It's About Time will see a world-wide release, but Chic's first album in 23 years appears to be rapidly nearing an impending release; although, a limited edition "I'll Be There" 12-inch picture disc backed with "Back In The Old School" is currently available for pre-order from the Warner Music Store and is expected to start shipping around April 14th.