Twenty years after their formation in Tommy Brenneck's apartment in Bushwick, Menahan Street Band returns with Illusions, their fourth studio album, released on Diamond West Records, Brenneck's label. The band members, Tommy Brenneck, Dave Guy, Nick Movshon, Leon Michels, and Homer Steinweiss, have each pursued numerous projects over the years. Brenneck has produced tracks for Baby Rose, Rogê, and Kirby. He has toured with The Budos Band and runs Diamond West Records as well as the label's studio. Guy plays trumpet with The Roots and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and has also released a solo album. Steinweiss has recorded his own solo album and has worked, with Movshon, on several projects that have reached platinum status. Michels continues his work under the name El Michels Affair, runs Big Crown Records, and has produced Grammy-nominated or Grammy-winning albums for Clairo and Norah Jones. Despite their many personal activities, the band members found themselves with an energy that Brenneck describes as being "like the first time." Recorded quickly and instinctively, Illusions blends the signature guitars, horns, and drums of Menahan Street Band with arrangements by Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai. The whole takes the listener on an instrumental journey that allows the mind to wander. The artist Ariana Papademetropoulos provides the original cover art that accompanies this otherworldly musical collection.