You Got to Hold On

October 13, 2023 1:52 PM

Since their earliest days playing record store gigs, the Alabama Shakes have been an absolutely holy-shit powerhouse of rock'n'roll soul. But for all their collective skill, the true genius of the band was always frontwoman Brittany Howard -- a former cashier and postal worker-turned-generational talent whose electrifying voice, lyrical verve, eclectic tastes, and directorial eye drove the band's rapid musical evolution, from the anthemic southern roots rock of 2012's Boys & Girls to the cinematic groove, kaleidoscopic funk and eerie psychedelia (bordering on spiritual experience) that was 2015's Sound & Color. And beyond: after a hiatus, Howard went solo to work on her debut effort Jaime (2019), a heartbreaking and deeply personal record inspired by her late sister and her own experience growing up as a queer, mixed-race woman in the Deep South. Now, after brief forays into multiple side projects, jamming with Prince [audio] and Paul McCartney, an immaculate piano duet with Herbie Hancock at the Kennedy Center, and a delightful music video (starring pal Terry Crews, her dad, and a whole swath of her hometown), Howard has surprised fans with a second solo album, starting with the lead single: "What Now." Haven't heard enough about these fantastic albums? Well, bless your heart, there's

[Ed. note: special thanks to MeFi's Own BitterOldPunk for introducing me and a lot of other MeFites to this talent back in 2011, and for sharing this lovely story. Also check out posts tagged with AlabamaShakes and BrittanyHoward previously.]

CBS interviews: The soulful Alabama Shakes (2015) and Brittany Howard on solo music, fly fishing and feeling like an alien (2020)

SheShreds: Brittany Howard on Collaboration, Gear, and Making Up Your Own Chord Shapes

Brittany Howard on Instagram: @blackfootwhitefoot

Alabama Shakes and Brittany Howard on Bandcamp

Full, mostly professionally-filmed and tracklisted concerts on YouTube:

Alabama Shakes live at Pegasus Records (2011) - HMV Forum London (2012) - Rockpalast (2013) - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (2014) - Apogee Studios for KCRW (2015) - Montreux Jazz Festival (2015) - Open'er Festival (2015) - Hangout Music Fest (2016) - Lollapalooza Brasil (2016) - Sasquatch! Music Festival (2016)

Brittany Howard live from the Palace Theater (2018) - KEXP Studio (2019) - Baloise Session, Switzerland (2019) - Ryman Auditorium (2020) - Madison Square Garden (2022)

And speaking of the music...

(★ = personal faves)

Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls (2012)

AllMusic's capsule review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine:

Alabama Shakes possess a curious character: they're rooted in the past, but it's clear they've learned their moves from musicians removed some three or four generations from the source. Instead of playing like refractions from a hall of mirrors, Alabama Shakes' 2012 debut Boys & Girls emphasizes how American roots music is now grounded in the 1960s notion of blues & soul, all filtered through the prism of '70s classic rock. [...] lead singer Brittany Howard phrases like a rock singer, playing up vocal affections with glee, ratcheting up the drama by laying hard into her elongated phrases. Which isn't to say Alabama Shakes ignores the straight stuff: much of Boys & Girls is anchored in a Southern soul groove spliced from Stax and Muscle Shoals, the guitars of Fogg and Howard full and bold in their cleanly chopped rhythms, echoing the work of Steve Cropper and Jimmy Johnson. But Alabama Shakes aren't purists, they're modern -- they splice familiar sounds and forms together, then reshuffle them in subtly surprising ways. [...] Their roots are just that -- roots, not anchors, allowing the group to grow, often in unexpected and quietly thrilling ways.

1 | ★ "Hold On" [lyrics] - Live
So, bless my heart and bless my mind
I got so much to do, I ain't got much time

“Hold On” is by and large a very simple song. Brittany Howard spends the song contemplating her life so far counting her blessings while not feeling sure of what she’s going to do. She’s got so much she wants to do but she ain’t got much time and didn’t think she’d make it to 22 years old. To persevere through tough times, Howard calls out to a higher authority that is telling her to pick herself back up. Basically, that authority figure is telling Brittany Howard to hold on. But Howard also sounds in conflict with that advice saying she doesn’t want to wait to see what will happen in her life. It all works with her howling delivery where you can feel the uncertainty she feels about growing up.

2 | "I Found You" [lyrics] - Live at KEXP
Well, I traveled a long way
And it took a long time to find you
But I finally found you

“I Found You” is the tale of a long journey, revamping the dynamic of the world-weary man searching for a good woman. [...] Though ultra-subtle, these power shifts are lethally effective. By slyly bringing them to the attention of the listener, the changes are neither overwhelming nor overdone, thus making them perfectly suited to hunker down inside the sensibilities of everyone who hears them. As a result, they help to realign what is possible between the sexes in the previously one-sided realm of solid blues-rock.

3 | ★ "Hang Loose" [lyrics] - Live
Don't worry, sweet baby!
Don't you ever worry about a thing
Put them worries on the shelf and learn to love yourself
Don't be your own worst enemy

The new material kicks off on track three with what will inevitably become one of the summer’s biggest anthems, “Hang Loose.” Here, the Shakes trade the dirty South for the white capped surf of the beach. Focused and concise, the track clocks in at a mere 2:26. Nevertheless, allowing for plenty of time to leave an impact.

4 | "Rise to the Sun" [lyrics] - Live on the Green
All I believe in is a dream
I haunt the Earth, though I am fully seen
In all my years, I've never felt more sure than now
Well, I got to get off this rock, somehow

Of all the contributing factors to the album’s success, it’s the willingness for experimentation that may be most fruitful. While the album sticks mostly to flourishes and small tweaks, “Rise to the Sun” stands as a gem of free-flowing innovation. The three-minute track begins with a fusion of driving blues-rock and sunny, almost psychedelic organ work. The closing minute, though, represents the true meat of the song (and perhaps the album at large): a cacophony of the previous instrumentation, clashing into each other at violent speeds with glorious results. It’s intricate and messy, with the heart of a soul song and the skin of a punk anthem. Though it stands alone as the clearest example of sonic experimentation, its energy infuses the rest of the album with a sense of invigoration, as if each track may very well veer into similar territory at any moment.

5 | ★ "You Ain't Alone" [lyrics] - Live on Sound Opinions
Cry! If you gonna cry...
Well come on, cry with me

In reference to my posting ‘new music’ on the blog, I’m often asked what it is I’m looking for. It’s simple, I’m hunting for ‘the real’ — the stuff that can’t be faked…the happy accidents, the sound of strings out of tune from humidity, Ike Turner’s busted amp on “Rocket 88,” blood, sweat, tears, what-have-you. In short, expressions of the human condition. The real is an elusive chase and one that rarely comes pre-packaged all nice and spit-shined via a PR firm. As such, finding it makes it that much sweeter.

The Shakes, from the small town of Athens, AL are a slice of the real; an unhinged, and as of yet unsigned, blues-based soul outfit fronted by a woman armed with a whole lotta voice and a Gibson SG. And as for what I’m looking for, “You Ain’t Alone” is about as real as you can get.

(Fun fact: The above 2011 review is the first publication to ever write about the band, then known as The Shakes, and helped kickstart their rise to stardom)

6 | "Goin' to the Party" [lyrics] - Live (and impromptu) in the streets of Paris
Guess who's gonna be there for you
When you're too drunk to know what the heck ya doin'?
I'm right here to carry you on home

On the shadowy, fingersnapped "Goin' to the Party" she sings about running around town, getting wasted, and taking care of some drunk boy; when she woozily coos, "gotta take me back now, I'm still somebody's daughter," she sounds half-annoyed and half-comforted in that very particular way that comes from being young and restless and knowing there's someone waiting up for you, but at least there's someone waiting up for you.

7 | "Heartbreaker" [lyrics] - Live at Bonnaroo
How I was supposed to know?
Was it by your sweet face, or your eyes?
Oh, Lord...

Howard's pain feels raw, but like it won't always be-- as if once these first scrapes heal, her skin will be good and tough, but right now they smart like hell. "Heartbreaker" is staggering, gut-punched, a shiny organ weeping and straining away as she laments, "Oh, I wanted to grow old with you/ You told me so, but then you go/ How was I supposed to know?"

8 | "Boys & Girls" [lyrics] - Live at Hear Ya
Oh why can't we be best friends anymore?
They say a friend ain't to be between a girl and a boy
I don't know who said it, or why it got to be so wrong

At one point, Howard paused to explain Boys & Girls‘ title track, recounting how she was ridiculed growing up for having a boy as her best friend. “Oh, why can’t we be best friends anymore?” she sang in earnest. After the multiple SXSW shows that Alabama Shakes have lined up this week – some 2,000 people piled into Stubb’s alone – Howard shouldn’t have any more trouble keeping friends.

9 | "Be Mine" [lyrics] - Live at KCRW
All them girls might wanna rip us apart
If they wanna fight, they done started fuckin' with the wrong heart
They got another thing comin', or I'll be a dead woman
Oh, and I would do all that for you

But later on the slow-boiling "Be Mine" she's regained her footing-- she's direct, nearly petulant: "If they wanna fight/ They done started fucking with the wrong heart." Three minutes in the song shifts focus to a single demand, Howard crowing and screaming, "Be my baby, be my baby!" over and over as the band spins out, crashing and bumping, then circles back home as she loosens into a string of cries and hoots. Live, Howard often plants her feet flat onstage before bellowing out a line, as if bracing herself against the force of what's to come, and it's easy to imagine her doing that in the studio, too.

10 | "I Ain't the Same" [lyrics] - Live
I said I'd never grow old
I can't remember how that used to be
I find myself without the power
I find myself without the glory

Kicking off with some fuzzy guitar action, 'Same' quickly launches into a verse that highlights the band's standout facet. That is, the undeniably soulful croon of frontwoman Brittany Howard. Howard's powerful pipes make her sound like she was born in the wrong decade. Much like the awesomely retro look of the afro that sits atop her head, she has the throwback attitude of '60s rockers like Janis Joplin or a gender-bending Mick Jagger -- and that vibe carries over to her backing band's overall aesthetic.

11 | "On Your Way" [lyrics] - Live in Amsterdam
On your way, I said to the air: "I don't know if I am strong"
So, I climbed to the mountain and I don't know what I did wrong
And it was just me... just a little ol' me

Janis Joplin comparisons will probably get the most mileage in reviews of this record, but “On Your Way,” the album’s sublime closing track, sounds a mystical note more in keeping with Van Morrison as Howard yearns for but can’t reach “the promised land.” “I climbed to the mountain / And I don’t know what I did wrong,” she wails over keening electric guitar and rumbling Southern rock rhythms. Whatever it was, her misstep certainly didn’t have anything to do with her contributions to this inspired debut.

Bonus tracks:
"Heavy Chevy" [lyrics] - Live at SiriusXM
"Heat Lightning" [lyrics]
"Pocket Change" - "Mama"


Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color (2015)

AllMusic:

On their 2012 debut Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes never hid that they were creatures of the New South -- a band with old-fashioned blues, soul, gospel, and country in their blood but raised on modern rock. On their 2015 follow-up, Sound & Color, they free themselves from the vestiges of the past, let loose, and push themselves further in either direction. [...] Sound & Color bursts with oversaturated hues so vivid they seem almost tangible. Such deep digressions into shade and light accentuate both the group's roots and modernity, but the very fact that they chase after such bold, elastic sounds signals they're hardly a throwback. [...] Often, Sound & Color takes flight when Alabama Shakes channel that energy into ever-shifting, liquid performances that almost feel like roots psychedelia, typified by "Future People" skipping off its tight Memphis groove with spooky harmonies and thudding fuzz. Such unaffected weird flourishes are evidence that Alabama Shakes are creatures of their time and place -- they play Southern soul-rock in an era where the past is indistinguishable from the present, and how the band interlaces the old and the new on Sound & Color feels startlingly fresh.

1 | "Sound & Color" [lyrics] - Official music video - Behind the scenes - Live at Farm Aid
A new world hangs outside the window
Beautiful and strange
It must be I've fallen awake

The title track, which has a solid minute of haunting beautiful rich, Phoenician purple vibraphone, which conveys this longing, lingering feeling in me that wants those notes, those tones to resonate forever, but then the cruel foot pedal of the keyboard cuts them off, and then when the band comes in and Ms. Howard reinforces that feeling with some equally chilling lyrics about longing for more human connection and greater enjoyment of life and this breathy vocal delivery (and those crying violins near the end) sets the stage for a heartfelt, 100% sincere album.

2 | ★ "Don't Wanna Fight" [lyrics] - Live from Capitol Studio A
Living ain't no fun, the constant dedication
Keeping the water and power on
There ain't no money left, why can't I catch my breath?
I'm gonna work myself to death

It starts with a Curtis Mayfield-style guitar groove, resolutely inching its way forward. The band joins in, layering the funk; everything is cool. Then, the swarm: Brittany Howard's voice depicts it as a James Brown squeal that stops everything, pulls it around, obliterates business as usual. "My lines, your lines, don't cross them lines," she spits. She's talking about the kind of conflict that feels like it descends out of nowhere but is really following ancient patterns, like a swarm. "Why can't we both be right?" The conflict could be with a loved one, or an internal one — maybe a bad habit battling it out with some better intentions. "Lying down ain't easy when everyone needs pleasing," Howard laments as she and the band piles up layers of riffs and rhythm. Zac Cockrell's bass line paces like an angry presence trying to calm itself down. The mood is thick. The sound is full of beating wings.

By the third verse, this isn't just personal: Howard is singing about the daily strife of working people, "the constant dedication, keeping the water and power on." This is where "Don't Wanna Fight" connects with Curtis Mayfield, Betty Davis and Bobby Womack: Deep soul music shows how every social struggle is the sum of many individual ones, survived in real time. The band refocuses, laying hard into the groove, until a few screaming lines from guitarist Heath Fogg signal a push upward. Howard's voice swells, multitracked, and grows beautiful.

Note: Won "Best Rock Song" and "Best Rock Performance" at the 2016 Grammy Awards

3 | "Dunes" [lyrics] - Live from Capitol Studio A
Somewhere over the dunes, love
I walked, I wept enough
I turned the desert into seabed
I swam from the terrible depths

Once the band gets deeper into it, it’s probably one of the more “garage-y” sounding tracks on the record, sort of crossing the ragged edges of that genre with bluesy minimalism. It gives the rhythm section a good workout in the chorus and bridge, and it fits the lyrics, which unfortunately don’t get a whole lot more specific after the intriguing opening that finds Brittany wandering across a desert, dying of thirst and about to lose her mind.

4 | ★ "Future People" [lyrics] - Live from Capitol Studio A
Children! Take or leave it!
Come, people...
You got to give a little, get a little
And see it... like "future you" people!

One song, Future People, is emblematic of the change that has come over Alabama Shakes in the past few years. Two radically different guitar lines (Howard’s and guitarist Heath Fogg’s, one a faintly Japanese-sounding pattern) lead into the song’s sultry soul-rock groove. Howard doesn’t belt out her words immediately, but instead croons in falsetto, about meeting dearly departed friends and family as spirit guides. (The death of Howard’s older sister, Jaime, in childhood looms large here.) Suddenly a bone-shaking bass line arrives and we are not in Alabama any more, Toto, but in a kind of psychedelic funk.

5 | ★ "Gimme All Your Love" [lyrics] - Live at Austin City Limits - Audio of Prince jamming to the song at Paisley Park; Howard returned the favor after his death - Three fan films: The Gas Station - The Driver - The Dancers
If you'd just give me all your love...!
Gimme all you got, baby
Gimme all your love!
Stick 'em up

One of my favorite songs of all time is “Gimme All Your Love” by the Alabama Shakes. It’s what love sounds like to me. The highs and lows, twists and turns. It is a rollercoaster. “Gimme All Your Love” is ageless, as if it could take up a smoky room in a detective 1960s film, late 80s coming-of-age romance montage, or a glance that leads to a passionate fire and the inevitable extinguishing of the flame.

The song encapsulates soul. Rests are weaponized to deliver the quiet and emptiness that naturally happen in relationships. The keyboard surrounds you, so you are always accompanied throughout the song — except for the beats, which make the silence powerful. But when the sound kicks back in, you are grasped by the electric guitar and pulled into the depths of loneliness that only comes from love. The bass is soothing but vociferous, a tender touch. The drums rock the boat to a soulful tap.

Lead singer Brittnay Howard pulls you into her embrace. The prowess of this song is impossible without her, there’s not another singer out there right now who meets her on her level. She’s a physical but uneasy comfort. Howard is crying out — if love had a voice, she is a woman possessed. It’s booming with passion and as fragile as glass. She encompasses the intenseness of love at first sight and the gut wrenching pressure when you lose them.

Bonus cover: Howard does Stevie Wonder's "For Once in my Life" at the Hollywood Bowl (might have to enable sound)

6 | "This Feeling" [lyrics] - Live at Austin City Limits
So I just kept goin', I just kept goin', and hope that I'm growing near
Well, that's good and fine... I spent all this time try'na find my way here
And I've been having me a real fun time, and it feels so nice to know I'm gonna be alright

“This Feeling” is an acoustic jam that sounds so intimate, like the band are playing so close together around a campfire, the heavy white noise accompanying the band enhance the feel of the song, making it sound more homegrown. The little flutters of piano and organ and backing vocals and strings that pop in and out add gorgeous touches to each section of the song, the guitars and hand drums at the core of the song are really something for being so simple.

7 | "Guess Who" [lyrics] - Live at Montreux Jazz Festival
It's been so hard for a girl like me, it's true
People say I look just like my daddy, 'cause I do
All I really want is peace of mind

Howard’s voice becomes valorous, sharp, angelic; a true halcyon front-woman. Shaded blue throughout ‘Guess Who’ – “I can’t see the sky as blue as you do, should I fail the side, there must be some way to love him,” is calmly opposed against the urgent acoustic guitar stabs – it really embraces all forms of theatrics from vulnerability through to empowerment.

8 | "The Greatest" [lyrics] - Live at New Orleans Jazz Festival
Should I stay, stay awake?
I know you ain't out there tryin' to be my baby
God, help us, help us all
Don't ever let me down
You're always doing that

Really every song is its own little personal sonic adventure that combines the smooth, rich coffee of soul music and the electric-charged mania of Red Bull of garage rock, and no song brings these worlds together like “The Greatest” because it switches from this high-speed “oom-pah” to a smooth 6/8 dance and then to something akin to what the Beatles were doing on the White Album, especially the harder rocking songs like “Birthday” or “Back in the USSR,” just really driving and pulsating.

9 | "Shoegaze" [lyrics] - Live in Rio
It ain't no fun to be alone, yeah, but I was not too lonely
And I begin to realize that I can't have everything, everything
Oh, why can't I?
Or do I?

Where the Black Keys use pretty sparing instrumentation, the Shakes bring lots of colors (I’m sorry, but It’s not even a pun, just a word) to the mix. Some standout moments include “Shoegaze” which is a grooving little garage rock jam. It’s got some fun noodly guitar interplay (I mean every track has that, but it adds lots of fuzzy texture to the song) and a tight drum and bass groove and the drums break into a calypso beat near the middle that it changes back to from the rock beat, and the tension that builds in the chorus and the release is sublime.

10 | "Miss You" [lyrics] - Live at Farm Aid
Well, is it true?
All them bad things you do?
Well, are they sure?
Are they sure that it was you?

If Say Anything’s words were a butterfly knife, the Shakes’ would be a baseball with a nail through it. Brittney Howard writes herself as someone who puts their whole being in relationships and dives in with a childlike innocence, but still is adult enough to admit her mistakes and accept reality. Take “Miss You” for example, probably my favorite song on the record for its loud/soft dynamics, which opens with the line “I’m gonna miss you and your Mickey Mouse tattoo and you’re leaving in your Honda Accord.” Already, I’m feeling the intimacy of this relationship and the pain in Ms. Howard’s voice when he leaves, and later on it’s revealed she drove him away in this telling stream-of-conscious line: “Well I do not love you because I'm bored. No, I was just saying them things when I was feeling a little unsure about myself and I'm sorry baby, that wasn't right” that has this pleading feel. That’s the best word I can use to describe the lyrics. The details enhance the delivery enhance the connection. The sum of all these factors are greater than each part.

11 | "Gemini" [lyrics] - Live at Austin City Limits
And in your eyes I'd see the dark inside of you
Woke from dream, pulled up like weed
Never knew no better, there were no such thing
I reached for you, like a child that cling
Oh, how we saw in each other, everything

"On a planet not so far away, we were born together," she sings, maybe to her lost sister, a lover or a best friend, in a voice that contains shadows of Richmond, Virginia's son, D'Angelo. Howard's imagined pair washes up in Athens, Alabama, "suckled on the honey of the Tennessee," whose wet banks are both adorned with the flower whose name she's playing with and rife with the snakes she mentions in the next verse. The dream Howard spins in "Gemini" could have come from the pen of South Carolina native Dorothy Allison. The thick, expansive bed of druggy funk the band creates to convey it recalls the deepest experiments of Denton, Texas, native Sly Stone. The resonance the band achieves with the help of producer Blake Mills turns the track into serious funk: something George Clinton, born in North Carolina and now living in Tallahassee, would enjoy.

12 | "Over My Head" [lyrics] - Live at Capitol Studio A
Lovin' so deeply, I feel it through all my past lives
It feels good, I'm never saying goodbye
It feels good... I'm never saying goodbye

The most tantalizing piece of work is the closer, “Over My Head,” where Howard harmonizes in rounds with herself over a minimal soundscape of handclaps and keys. It’s gospel meets Kid A, but it doesn’t feel like arty affectation. It feels like a band realizing that with a voice as weird and powerful as Howard's, they can do anything at all.

Bonus tracks:
"Drive By Baby" [lyrics]
"Joe" [lyrics] - Live at Austin City Limits
"Makin' Me Itch" [lyrics] - Live in the streets of Paris
"Someday" [lyrics]


Side projects: Thunderbitch (2015) - Bermuda Triangle (2018)


Brittany Howard - Jaime (2019)

“This record isn’t necessarily about her, because it’s about me. But so much of who I am is because of her. I made this record for her.”

AllMusic:

Jaime is the name of Brittany Howard's sister, a sibling who died from a rare cancer when she was 13 years old. Howard began reckoning with the enduring ramifications of her loss when she started writing a memoir, an exercise that eventually led to her 2019 solo debut Jaime. Running a tight 35 minutes but containing a lifetime's worth of drama and insight, Jaime is bracing in its adventure and generosity. Trace elements of Americana can be heard -- there's nary a trace of the rockabilly roar of her ferocious Thunderbitch side project -- but Jaime could never be mistaken for an Alabama Shakes album. It's too funky and too fluid in how it embraces noise, art, and soul: witness "13th Century Metal," a collaboration with jazz keyboardist Robert Glasper where an organ stutters like a broken synth, the rhythms are as tight as a loop, and Howard recites her spoken verse with abandon. It's a moment of coiled fury, but most of Jaime rolls to a languid, stoned soul beat, allowing Howard to play with her phrasing; she slides between the sexy, sad, and sweet, sometimes blending all three emotions simultaneously. The depth of feeling may be rooted in autobiography, but Jaime is a far cry from a stark confessional. It's slippery, elusive, and sober in its intent, even when its sound is decidedly woozy. Jaime plays the way memories do: specific facts get lost to a truth that gets larger as years pass, where the familiarity can be reassuring yet melancholy. Howard's embrace of all the mess of life gives Jaime its sustenance. Her audacity is apparent upon the first listen, but subsequent spins are profound and nourishing.

1 | "History Repeats" [lyrics] - Live at Austin City Limits
I just don't wanna be back in this place again
I mean, I done cried a little
Tried a little, failed a little
I don’t wanna do it again

History Repeats – which will be not only the first single but also the lead-off track – would appear to be the Athens native’s early attempt to shake (pardon the pun) off the shackles of the past. And it does so in really emphatic style. The whole track is a restless, rambunctious affair with loud, splashy cymbals, vigorously strummed guitars and a vocal that rambles along with the unsatisfied urgency of one made mad by the wicked ways of the world. First she begs, “Don’t push me / push me / push me / push me.” Then she asserts (over and over again) how, “history repeats and we defeat ourselves.” It’s a track that draws confidence from its chaos, that finds a certain freedom in its frustration, that smiles sweetly even as it spits fire.

2 | "He Loves Me" [lyrics] - Live
I know he still loves me when I'm smoking blunts
Loves me when I'm drinking too much
He loves me then, yeah
He loves me when I do what I want
He loves me, he doesn't judge me, yes he loves me

“’He Loves Me’ is a very important track on my record. It is a song I deeply want to share to help others realize loving and being loved by God doesn’t have to look the same for everyone,” Howard said of the track in a statement. “When my older sister passed away, it took its toll on our family. We grew apart from one another and therefore, we grew apart from our family church. I thought God had intended to hurt us or punish us, but I later realized that I found God in music and I found God in my voice. I learned that He always had a plan for myself and my family. That is what ‘He Loves Me’ is about. It is my greatest realization that He has never left me. All those years that I had turned away, I was still receiving His absolute love and forgiveness.”

3 | ★ "Georgia" [lyrics] - Live at KEXP
Georgia, I think if I got you alone
You could tell I'm being really sincere
And I can't help the way that I was born to be
I ain't no little boy

In “Georgia,” Brittany Howard perfectly expresses the awkwardness, fear, and all-encompassing infatuation notwithstanding any anxiety-inducing emotions that come with discovering your first gay crush. The song opens almost meekly, with only one idea for certain, “I just want Georgia to notice me.” The lyrics depict the introspective bargaining of a young Brittany Howard trying to reconcile her fear of being “unnatural,” for loving a girl and her knowledge that she’s being sincere, and can’t help innocently crushing on Georgia. The song closes with the crashing of bombastic synths, blustering guitar, and bold percussion that makes the listener feel the fervor behind young Brittany Howard’s longing and emotion.

4 | ★ "Stay High" [lyrics] - Official music video starring Terry Crews - behind the scenes - Live at KEXP - Terry crashes a live performance - Acoustic - Howard explains the lyrics on Song Exploder - Childish Gambino cover
So don't question my state of mind
I'm doing wonderful, just fine, thank you
Everything is everything and everything is beautiful
See, all I do is keep it cool and don't worry 'bout what everyone is doing
I already feel like doing it again, honey

The ‘Stay High’ video is set in Howard’s hometown of Athens, Alabama – and for the first time, she herself is onscreen. In the clip, viewers follow a working man (played by ‘Brooklyn 99’ star Terry Crews) as he clocks out of his blue-collar job and makes his way home through his small-town community. For the entirety of the video, we get a spotlight on rural Southern living, and although it may not be glamorous or invoke traditional feelings of being high, this man and the colourful characters that make themselves part of the scenery are feeling an intense sensation.

Speaking of the video, Howard says, “The actors are my family and friends. Terry Crews plays a man who isn’t out to change the world, he plays a man who just wants to come home to those who understand and love him best. We see his inner beauty, grace and humanity in a place that is so often misunderstood.”

Crews shares, “I got an email from the Brittany Howard, asking me to be a part of a song she wrote that was all about her dad and how special he was to the family. And she poured her heart out in this letter. I couldn’t believe it. Brittany was like, ‘we can shoot it in L.A.,’ and I said, ‘No, I’m coming to you, we’re going to Alabama. We’re going to where you grew up, to where your family is.”

5 | "Tomorrow" [lyrics] - Live at Austin City Limits
I feel, but what you gon' show me? (All the love)
But what do you see? (Not enough)
Now what stands in the way? (All of us)
Now what you gon' do 'bout it? (Get up, get up)

“Tomorrow” provides a refreshing change of pace and tonal shift, and elaborates on Howard’s bad habit of living life on autopilot, accepting her poor decisions as routine, and promising that “tomorrow I’ll be better.” At this lyric, the music shifts and takes on the elusive nature that the word “tomorrow,” possesses; people “always talk about tomorrow,” but in truth, we exist in a perpetually transitory state, constantly losing what is becoming past and hurtling towards a future that is always becoming present. Tomorrow never really comes and stays, so there will always be “tomorrow,” to push your responsibilities onto. But Brittany Howard asks: if people keep living like this, never carpe-ing the diem, how can anyone improve themselves, or better their circumstances? In a way, we’re already here, in yesterday’s tomorrow, so what now? (Spoiler alert: she ain’t talkin’ ‘bout tomorrow. The answer is to live for today.)

6 | ★ "Short and Sweet" [lyrics] - Live at the Daily Show - Acoustic
Just the beginning
I only want the beginning
We'll give each other all of our best and then
Time can do what it wants with it

In a set full of highlights, original and borrowed, it’s one of the quieter, more desolate songs whose truths play in the mind long after the Brittany Howard Revue has packed up. Short and Sweet is a forlorn lament that finds Howard accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, her voice spanning a whispered falsetto and a guttural husk, the tune itself alternating between timeless balladeering and an almost avant-garde use of pace and silence. “I just want the beginning,” she howls, of a love affair whose conclusion is unknowable. You can’t help but feel, though, that this new, solo Brittany Howard is a keeper.

7 | "13th Century Metal" [lyrics] - Live at Pandora
Every day I am alive I am given opportunities
To become that which I admire most of others
I am nonviolent, I am a master student
And my spirit will never be stomped out

Howard: “This title is very literal: This song sounds like metal music but it also sounds like a Gregorian chant. Robert Glasper plays on this record, and the funny thing about that is that he was just trying to figure out how to use this weird keyboard. [Drummer] Nate Smith and I had said, ‘Rob, go play these keys and see if you can get a good sound out of them.’ So he goes into the booth and messes around, playing and playing, and finally I’m like, ‘Wait, this is good. Are you hitting record?’ Rob plays through the whole song. It’s all improvised. One take. At the end, I added in this poetry I had written one day when I really needed inspiration. President Trump had gotten elected and Prince had died—there was just a lot of bad shit happening. I was like, ‘Wow, I don't know about this world…’ So I started writing.”

8 | "Baby" [lyrics] - Live at Ryman Auditorium
I tried to do everything you asked me to
I never thought you ever would ask me to leave, baby
I guess the joke's on me, baby
You never did fail to deceive
I guess that's what I get for being so quality, babe

“Baby” addresses that former partner that asked for everything but refused to provide anything in return. It summarizes that post-breakup clarity that mistreated people gain; that realization that your biggest mistake was allowing some trash individual to even call you “baby.” In the lyrics, Howard ironically refers to this ex by the same pet name, giving it a condescending edge in context to the song’s attitude. The groove in “Baby,” is strong and bold, displaying Howard’s regained self-confidence, and it’s impossible to ignore it’s commanding energy, especially by the song’s jazzy and energetic end.

9 | "Goat Head" [lyrics] - Live at Pandora
My daddy, he stayed. My grandmama's a maid.
My mama was brave to take me outside
'Cause mama is white and daddy is black
When I first got made, guess I made these folks mad

“Goat Head” recounts an incident Howard learns of long after it happened: In retaliation for her very presence, her birth to an interracial couple, her father’s tires are slashed, the severed head of a goat placed in the back seat of his car and blood spread around the vehicle. This anti-black hate crime is the grotesque kind for which the South is infamous, made more egregious by the silence that surrounds it, the culprits unrevealed and unpunished. The song is both a memoir of this moment and the preface to a retribution ritual.

10 | "Presence" [lyrics] - Live
'Cause what's this world without you in it?
You make me feel just like I'm a little kid
What's this world got without your spark?
You make me feel so black and alive

“Presence” is Brittany Howard’s celebration of a fulfilling love that encourages her to love herself and negates any concerns about the future, since appreciating the present she shares with her partner trumps any appeal future possibilities may possess. The harp brings back that ethereal quality also present in “Stay High”; Brittany Howard feels most blessed when she is simply in the wonderful presence of her partner.

11 | "Run to Me" [lyrics] - Live in Manchester
It’s not funny being free and wild
There's no joy all on your own
There's no weapon against this loneliness
Except my loving arms

Finally, “Run To Me” comes out of nowhere, with the full ‘80s unabashed reverb treatment, matched with the associated vocal histrionics. The reverberating drums give an epic feel, with Howard’s gurgling, hissing, and soaring vocalizations demanding, “Run, run, run to me.” It zeroes in on a specific sentiment, and simultaneously pans out from the whole heated affair in a way that seals the album satisfyingly.

“Jamie” is an album that goes straight to the heart, and cuts through all of the nonsense in a sharp, incisive slice. You’re left reflecting upon the breadth and depth of American music of the last, say, seventy years, as they’ve been condensed and flashed before you in a way that no one would have expected. Brittany Howard is the real deal.

No bonus tracks... but there is an entire remix album from a variety of prominent artists: Jaime Reimagined. Plus: a 15-minute Tiny Desk concert featuring music from Jaime


Brittany Howard - What Now (2023)

The full album release date has not been announced yet, but you can watch the debut music video for the lead single now!

AL.com: Brittany Howard’s new song is funky as hell

Buy or stream the single online

Information on the upcoming tour!

posted by Rhaomi (20 comments total)

brilliant

a great post

best of the best of the web, well done
posted by elkevelvet at 2:08 PM on October 13, 2023 [5 favorites]

I likewise doff my hat to you, good sir
posted by gottabefunky at 2:13 PM on October 13, 2023

This is wonderful. Brittany Howard is everything.
posted by thivaia at 2:39 PM on October 13, 2023

I can safely say that despite the previouslies I had never heard of these people, this band, this music.

Well, now I have.

And it is amaaaazing. 🤯
posted by chavenet at 4:02 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

If you've never watched the Stay High music video with Terry Crews, you need to fix that. It's 4 minutes of joy.
posted by bassooner at 4:31 PM on October 13, 2023 [2 favorites]

Absolutely the best use of the “more inside”
posted by zenon at 4:49 PM on October 13, 2023 [3 favorites]

Flagged as fantastic! Thanks, Rhaomi!
posted by mochapickle at 4:49 PM on October 13, 2023

?!...
...
...Slow clap

And as for Alabama Shakes and Brittany Howard, I've been a fan of both for a long time (not like Rhaomi, though!)

Of interest to me, I always felt that somebody's playing a toy piano in the song Stay High. You can really hear it at around the 2 minute mark in the video linked above, and again here. I've never looked into it because I really like the idea of somebody of her calibre choosing to use a toy instrument.

Well done, Rhaomi.
posted by ashbury at 7:24 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wow. This was a labor of love. Thank you, Rhaomi! Looking forward to diving in over the weekend.
posted by kaelynski at 8:57 PM on October 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

!

Awesome.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:10 PM on October 13, 2023

I first heard “Hold on” on France’s FIP radio while driving and remember having to pull over and listen to it properly.
posted by rongorongo at 3:45 AM on October 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

I heard about Alabama Shakes here on MeFi, and I want to say that I also heard about St. Paul and the Broken Bones here roughly around the same time. I put their stuff into one big playlist and letting it just spool out loud in the house when no one is home but me and the dog really rocks.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:41 AM on October 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

(And to think someone asked whether FanFare could include music, and got negative replies?!)
posted by wenestvedt at 6:42 AM on October 14, 2023

Wow. I'm speechless. This must have taken forever to put together. Congrats on an excellent post and thanks for turning me onto Alabama Shakes.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:48 AM on October 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

Mod note: [btw, this post has been added to the sidebar and Best Of blog]
posted by taz (staff) at 2:13 AM on October 15, 2023 [4 favorites]

Brittany Howard, Rhiannon Giddens, Cecile Salvant, Cyrille Aimee ... They're all keeping the flame alive.


This is a stupendous effort, rhaomi. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
posted by indianbadger1 at 10:46 AM on October 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Wow. Wow wow wow. Thank you. You've really outdone yourself with this one.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:24 AM on October 16, 2023

Thanks taz (and everyone!)

Had this one brewing for a while, ever since really getting into Sound & Color -- now one of my all-time favorite albums, which cemented the Shakes (and Howard) as one of my favorite artists. I'd start putting together something for a relevant event -- the Grammy win, the solo record, the Kennedy Center performance -- but always let it slip until it was no longer relevant. But it's better for waiting, what with this wealth of new material from recent years. Got tickets to see her debut show in Birmingham next month -- haven't seen her live since a Shakes show from 2015 -- can't wait!
posted by Rhaomi at 8:18 PM on October 18, 2023 [3 favorites]

I already loved both AL/BH, but you introduced me to works I hadn't found yet. And, I'm a choreographer on the side of my day job. I'd been stumped on music for a new piece, until your post led me to Don't Wanna Fight. Thank you so much for this amazing post.
posted by hessie at 12:56 PM on October 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Y'ALL.

I finally got to go to that debut show in Birmingham the other day and it was FANTASTIC.

Let's review:

- While waiting in line I ran into her dad and the rest of her family (recognized thanks to their cameos in the music video for "Stay High")
- Despite arriving towards the end of the line, I made a beeline for the stage and managed to get second back from the front rail (and this was a small venue, so the stage was literally within spitting distance. It was exceedingly difficult to resist moving up when the person in front of me left to use the bathroom before the show, but my patience was rewarded when she and her friend inexplicably left halfway through the show.
- The opener (L'Rain from Brooklyn) provided an interesting "sonic bath" experience with lots of layered samples and instrumentation, though it was sadly marred by some technical glitches
- When the crew started setting up for the main show, I asked a tall dude in front if he could try getting a photo of the set list to see if it was all new material. He tried his best but couldn't get a clear shot; after that he asked if I could send him any photos or video I took since his phone was about to die. That's when I realized I had the battery and storage to record the entire show from my perfect vantage point... in glorious 4K 60FPS. (DISCLAIMER: I held the phone low by my chin to not block any views, only occasionally glanced at the screen to make sure it wasn't drifting, and both she and her label are OK with YouTube recordings of her shows!)
- The show itself was phenomenal -- Howard is IMHO one of the best live performers today, a real force of nature on stage oozing charisma and absolutely killing it vocally. Knocking over mic stands, flinging cords about (almost got slapped at one point), grooving and dancing and stalking the stage and looming out over the crowd to raise hackles or call for more noise. She clearly adored playing to a home state crowd. Her band was fantastic, too -- including a church organist, multiple guitarists, backup singers, and the original bassist from Alabama Shakes. Great chemistry across the board.
- She played 18 songs in all, a mix of material from Jaime and eight new tracks from the forthcoming album. New tracks: "What Now", "I Don't", "Patience", "Red Flags", "To Be Still", "Power To Undo", "Another Day", "Revolution"
- After the show, I was talking to my new tall friend West (who'd come all the way from Baltimore!) about strategies for getting an autograph. He'd actually met Brittany six times before (!) and said she would sometimes come to the floor after most everyone else had cleared out to meet stragglers. So we and a couple other folks decided to try our luck and wait.
- After awhile we noticed a line forming for what turned out to be some kind of VIP afterparty thing, and it was dicey trying to avoid security that was asking non-passholders to leave. Fortunately our little group had somebody who had worked their a few years before who was savvy enough to strike up a friendly and distracting conversation with any staff who approached us.
- My personal low point of the night was when I stepped aside and knelt down to take out my vinyl copy of Sound & Color and special bronze sharpie I'd brought along -- only to notice West & co. talking to one of the backup singers near the VIP entrance. Turns out they knew her and were giving her stuff to take back and get signed! By the time I hustled back she'd already disappeared into the back. But the guy who knew her counseled patience.
- At this point a senior security staffer walked up and said we'd have to wait outside even if we did have stuff we were waiting to be returned. Luckily our ex-staffer friend expertly derailed her into a discussion of the previous owner's somewhat dubious history.
- Her gambit paid off because just a couple minutes later Brittany Howard herself walked out from the back in her street clothes. She was super chill and down-to-earth -- I apologized for any distraction from my recording (her: "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, and I gotta do what I gotta do!"), and she graciously signed my record along with everybody else's things. Everyone shared their elevator pitches for why she inspired them in tough times (we had not one but two people who had discovered her music while homeless), and we all took a delighted group photo to cap off the night.

10/10 experience, would recommend, no notes
posted by Rhaomi at 9:49 AM on November 13, 2023 [1 favorite]