Review – Alabama Shakes

The second album from Alabama Shakes breaks some new ground for the band, moving well beyond the rawness of their first album ‘Boys and Girls’. In Sound and Color, Alabama Shakes tap into the many veins of texture that black American musicians have provided over the years,

After a year in the studio writing and recording, the band delivers tunes that range from low key and soulful, like ‘This Feeling’, through to garage rockers like ‘The Greatest’. The sound of the album is a slice of 1960’s Mussel Shoals, with a down to earth honesty that lets the songs take centre stage. Front woman Brittany Howard is the main songwriter, and her performance on electric guitar and vocals gives the band the lashings of blues attitude and soul that makes this so authentically engaging.

Sharing a flavor with the likes of Otis Redding or Aretha Franklin, or in a soulful mood, perhaps Al Green, this is one of those albums that asks to be listened to over and over.