Brittany Howard's new album mixes genres, ethereal sounds and plenty of soul bearing
Alabama Shakes frontwoman. Brittany Howard’s second solo album, “What Now,” is out Friday. It’s a guided tour through a wide range of musical styles and feelings.
When the pandemic hit, Brittany Howard found herself hunkering down in Nashville with two dogs, two cats and one album on repeat — “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder.
“Every day. Every single day,” she says, laughing.
Making her own music naturally followed, and the result is the Alabama Shakes frontwoman’s second solo album, the 12-track “What Now,” out Friday. Not unlike Wonder’s epic album, it’s also a guided tour through a wide range of musical styles and feelings.
“At the time, I didn’t know I was writing an album. I just needed an outlet and I just needed a way to get all these feelings out,” she says. “So it wasn’t as if I was like chasing one central idea. It was just like journal keeping.”
“What Now” is a thrilling mix of songs that lean into jazz, R&B, soul, house and metal. There’s “Power to Undo” that seems to be a gleeful nod to Prince and “Every Color in Blue” that has a Radiohead vibe. As a whole, it’s more experimental than her 2019 debut, “Jaime.” There’s even an interlude with a poem read by the late Dr. Maya Angelou.
Rating: 5