Within the first few seconds of the Alabama Shakes’ new album, Sound & Color, it proves its divinely distinct departure from their first full length album, Boys & Girls, to be a huge success.
While Boys & Girls — and especially its lead singles — was characterized by rollicking guitar and Brittany Howard’s one-of-a-kind howl, the first track of their new album opts for an intro of slow, melodic bells. The song follows with calm violin, laid-back percussion and a call-and-response chorus. Fans of the previous album may be wondering, “Where’s the raw musical power of songs like “Hold On” and “Hang Loose?””
People echoing that sentiment may deride the band’s new direction on their latest album. This departure from the sound that made them successful, however, was a risk that paid off very well.
That’s not to say the Shakes’ whole album is a radical change from the past. There are multiple tracks on Sound & Color that have a similar feel to earlier material. For example, “The Greatest,” with its blend of ‘50s rock and garage rock, sounds similar to the title track from the band’s debut EP, Heavy Chevy. There is also the clever lyrical tie in on the track “Miss You.” “Be Mine” from Boys & Girls features Howard pleading over and over again, “be mine, baby” while in “Miss You” Howard repeats multiple times the natural response, “I’m yours.” Whether the parallel is intentional or not is unknown, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
A praise-worthy characteristic of Sound & Color is how many different sounds the band packs into the album, and even more so how it all fits together so well. With the exception of two or three tracks on the back end of the album, every song sounds distinct and interesting in its own way. The Shakes dabble in funk, soul, garage rock, blues, Americana and folk without bastardizing or flubbing any of the genres. They manage to mend them perfectly, both within songs and between songs. While some artists may try to tie in such a vast number of genres and come away with a jumbled and disorganized product, Sound & Color feels incredibly natural.
Howard seems to be the main catalyst in melding these genres successfully. From the emotional magnitude of “Don’t Wanna Fight” and “Miss You” to the quieter back half of the album, Howard’s vocal delivery is dynamic and effective in a variety of ways. What it sacrifices in fierceness from Boys & Girls, it more than makes up for in added finesse and beauty.
Content-wise Howard isn’t exactly pushing boundaries, with lyrics mainly concerned with both external struggles and love — topics she covered at length on Boys & Girls. Sometimes these themes even merge onto the same song, as in “Miss You,” a song about Howard’s love interest being taken to jail and how she’ll “Miss you and your Mickey Mouse tattoo.” Despite the redundancy in lyrics, Howard has some very well-written lines about companionship in “This Feeling” and “Gemini.”
On Sound & Color, the Alabama Shakes took a risk, mostly leaving their signature sound behind. In its place they tried their hand at a variety of genres and came away successful.
4.2 out of 5
