| Year | Album | Artist | Stars | Score | Genre | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | What Now | Brittany Howard | ★★★★ | 84 | Rock | Art Rock | Neo-Soul |
The second solo record from Alabama Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard is a beautiful melding of lo-fi esthetics, joyous singing and free, emotional energy across multiple genres.
This record, like her debut, draws from Howard’s blues roots, with raw vocals, soulful guitar riffs and cool drums. There are some real rockers here — “What Now” and “Another Day” — that feel partly like Alabama Shakes or Black Pumas, with a hint of TV on the Radio’s art rock and psychedelic experimentation. But there are also a lot of neo-soul and R&B influences, with modern ambient effects and old-timey keys that make the record feel like a daydream, somewhat like Childish Gambino’s 2016 record Awaken, My Love! but without the campy, heavy handedness. And then there’s “Prove It,” an emotional, propulsive house single that somehow doesn’t feel out of place standing right next to the soft trumpets and vocals on that album’s best ballad, “Samson.” “Every Color In Blue” closes the album with some soothing “Arpeggi”-style guitar work.
Fresh Out The Deli 