Brittany Howard - What Now
by Zena Grieg
published: 8 / 3 / 2024

Label:
EMI
Format: CD
intro
Experimental and gripping second solo album from ex-Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard
Ex-Alabama Shakes blues band lead singer Brittany Howard has released a new solo album, a follow-up to her 2019 ‘Jaime’. ‘What Now’, recorded in Nashville with producer Shawn Everett during the pandemic, traverses funk-rock, techno, jazz, new age, the songs tinged with sadness, reflecting the end of her marriage to Jesse Lafser in 2019, a leitmotif how we are in thrall to relationships. Interspersed between the songs is the sound of singing bowls, played by sound bath practitioners Ann Sensing and Ramona Reid, against a backdrop of impressionist moments building into intense emotion. Songs to listen out for in this eleven-track collection include: the opener, the slow-burning, dramatic ‘Earth Sound’, a revery on love; the melodic 70s style soul ballad ‘I Don’t’; the catchy funk-rock title track; ‘Red Flags’ with its hypnotic, insinuating beat, circular melody and soaring vocals; the layered, multi-track harmonies on ‘To Be Still’; the anthemic ‘Another Day’: “We were born in a time to change the paradigm/Peace is the prize of our timeline”; the jazz ballad ‘Samson’ with its innovative sound including the use of a crystal baschet; ‘ Patience’ with its warped keyboard effects; and the mesmerising closer ‘Every Color In Blue’ with its looping piano chords and trumpet solo, a study in intensity and vulnerability. Experimental, sonically rich and diverse, ‘What Now’ instils a beguiling sense of longing and peace.
Track Listing:-
1 Earth Sign2 I Don't
3 What Now
4 Red Flags
5 To Be Still
6 Interlude
7 Another Day
8 Prove It To You
9 Samson
10 Patience
11 Power To Undo
12 Every Color In Blue
Band Links:-
https://www.brittanyhoward.com/https://www.facebook.com/brittanyhowardofficial/
https://twitter.com/blkfootwhtfoot
Label Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/VirginEmiRecords/https://twitter.com/VirginEMI
http://www.virginemirecords.com/
Play in YouTube:-
Have a Listen:-
bandcamp
soundcloud
most viewed articles
current edition
Spear Of Destiny - InterviewRobert Forster - Interview
Fiona Hutchings - Interview
When Rivers Meet - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Carl Ewens - David Bowie 1964 to 1982 On Track: Every Album, Every Song
Brian Wilson - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Pistol Daisys - Waterfront, Norwich, 29/5/2025
Nils Petter Molvaer - El Molino, Barcelona, 24/4/2025
Credits - ARC, Liverpool, 17/5.2025
Deb Googe and Cara Tivey - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Peter Doolan - I Am a Tree Rooted to the Spot and a Snake Moves Around Me,in a CircleGarbage - Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
John McKay - Sixes and #Sevens
Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels
Little Simz - Lotus
Vinny Peculiar - Things Too Long Left Unsaid
Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Eddie Chacon - Lay Low
Only Child - Holy Ghosts
Vultures - Liz Kershaw Session 16.06.88
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart