Mavis Staples – We Get By (ANTI- Records)
Mavis Staples - We Get By
Release Date: Out Now
When people say ‘they don’t make
music like they used to’ just point them at this album, press play and then leave
the room without saying a word. Mavis Staples, with no insignificant help from
Ben Harper, makes timeless music and this new album is testament to that from
start to finish. ‘We Get By’ opens up with recent single ‘Change’ which is the
perfect opening line with Harper’s growling blues guitar dancing chest-to-chest
with Staples’ soulful voice. ‘Anytime’ is a lighter, more Motown influenced
tune with a sexy little guitar line giving Staples the freedom to unfurl her
impressive voice showing that less is so often more when it comes to quality
song writing.
Slowing the mood right down on title
track ‘We Get By’, Harper and Staples share vocal duties on a late-night duet in
which, if you listen carefully, you can hear the janitor sweeping up in the background.
‘Brothers And Sisters’ is pure soul with a shuffling beat and a sweet set of
backing singers while ‘Heavy on my Mind’ is the blues distilled in to the kind
of song that only exists because hearts have been broken and the human spirit
has been pushed to it’s very limit. Staples never lets you settle on a mood,
though, as ‘Sometime’ merges Seasick Steve’s country-blues swagger with early
Tina Turner gospel-soul and if you’re clapping hands along to this one by the
end of the first chorus then you’d better start counting your fingers.
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| Mavis Staples & Ben Harper |
On ‘Never Needed Anyone’ we are
treated to the most contemporary track on the album which is a ballad of such
gorgeous proportions that you just want to lay back into it and float off, weightless
on a bed of pure love. ‘Stronger’, by contrast, builds around a simple blues
riff to reach a tumult built around the equally simple but powerful sentiment “nothing
in the world is stronger than my love for you”. ‘Chance on Me’ keeps the soul
going with a subdued melody and gentle vocals while ‘Hard to Leave’ finds Staples
in reflective mood as she sings “airport tears, miss you dears…pressing play on
Marvin Gaye”.
The album finishes up on ‘One
More Change’ and you won’t find a better Motown heartbreak song made in the
modern era and very few in the heyday of Motown itself. Mavis Staples has
created an album jam packed with soul, blues, Motown and some excellent,
heartfelt song writing but more than that, she’s created a blanket of honesty
and truth to wrap yourself in and protect your heart from the outside world and,
for that, I thank you Mavis. Most sincerely.
More information: https://www.facebook.com/mavisstaples/
Live Dates:
23rd June – Olympia Theatre, Dublin
25th June – Norrmalm, Sweden
26th June – Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Farm
27th June – Theater Carre, Amsterdam
28th June – Open-Air-Theatre, Antwerpen
2nd July – The Forum, Bath
4th July – Roundhouse, London
6th July – Theatres Romaines De Fourviere, Lyon