Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Kitty Empire

Brittany Howard: What Now review – an outrageously great album

Brittany Howard.
Brittany Howard: ‘It’s hard to know what to praise the hardest.’ Photograph: pr handout

Earth Sign, the first track on Brittany Howard’s second solo album, opens her record as ordinary mortals might strive hard to close theirs – with a transcendent sunburst of hope gilded by complex vocal harmonies, jazz drums and unconventional instrumentation. More highs follow on an outrageously great album that struggles candidly with love, but never puts a foot wrong musically.

Howard first found fame, and multiple Grammys, as the frontperson of Alabama Shakes. Her 2019 solo debut, Jaime, earned her more of both. The pandemic allowed her to recalibrate again, building a home studio and experimenting with bin lids, cutlery and other unorthodox sounds. The songs on What Now – about love fading, new passion starting and Howard often missing relationship red flags – are linked together by hovering, chiming singing bowls. It’s an aural through line as she dazzles us with her range: unexpected dancefloor bangers (Prove It to You), pellucid vintage soul and exultant funk. The terrific Power to Undo doesn’t just channel Prince – it gets right up close to him. It’s impossible to know what to praise the hardest: the delicate trumpet of Rod McGaha, Howard’s own guitar work or her bravura vocal performance on Every Color in Blue.

Watch the lyric video for Prove It to You by Brittany Howard.
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.