Sound & Color 2XLP

Album Details

Resisting any notion of a sophomore slump, and putting to bed the "revivalist soul" label, Alabama Shakes return with a humdinger. Replete with moody vibes, intricate textures, atmospheric grooves, and confident playing, Sound & Color encompasses blues, psychedelia, R&B, and garage rock while ceding the floor to powerhouse singer Brittany Howard. To say the band has arrived would be a colossal understatement. "We took our time to write this record, and I'm really glad we did," explains Howard. "This record is full of genre-bending songs - it's even harder now when people ask, ‘What kind of band are you?' I have no clue." With Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes prove that the response to Boys & Girls was no fluke. Expanding on the soulful blues-rock base that made their name, they defy predictable expectations and map an exciting, surprising, and innovative new direction. The album's twelve songs reveal a band honed by years on the road, and drawing from a wide range of influences. "These songs are not simple," says Howard. "They're intricate, like a spider web or a tapestry. Our drummer, Steve, has put in a lot of work, gotten so much better - we all have." Indeed, press surrounding the quartet's first shows from the tour (staged more than a month before the record's release) has taken note of the phenomenal creative growth and evolution. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed: "Energetic front woman/guitarist Brittany Howard remains Alabama Shakes' guiding force. A lightning bolt of a singer that can move from whisper-quiet delicacy to rafter-rattling belting within one line, she conveyed a broader scope of emotion and more formidable vocal range than in years past." "Everybody has really advanced on their instruments," says guitarist Heath Fogg. "Brittany's vocals have gotten so much stronger, she's able to do more things than she even knew she could." "I feel like I'm capable of anything," the singer responds. "It took a lot of patience to make this record, and to communicate so well with each other. I know now we're the kind of band that can do that."