10 Southern Rock Albums Every Music Fan Should Own
5. Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color (2015)
Hailing from – you guessed it – Alabama, the Alabama Shakes, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brittany Howard, reimagine the southern rock sound, while maintaining a vintage, sentimental quality to their songs. Although the band went on hiatus in 2017, their genre blending second album Sound & Color, is as curious as it is beautiful; pairing modern beats, smooth soul and electrifying funk, with a rootsy, southern vibe.
The album’s soft, sombre title track lulls the listener into a sense of calm, before giving way to the deliciously funky, Prince-style groove of lead single “Don’t Wanna Fight”, which emphasises Howard’s finesse and ferocity as a singer, from her opening squeal, to her growled verses. Embracing a multitude of musical styles, Sound & Color easily wanders from the dirgy, lo-fi “Dunes” and “Future People”, to the quasi-trap beat and orchestral strings of the otherwise classic soul of “Guess Who”, and post-punk grit of the album’s heaviest track, “The Greatest”.
As best exemplified in “Gimme All Your Love”, Sound & Color is driven by Howard’s versatile voice and honest lyrics and, like life itself, shifts between the quiet and loud, pained and heartfelt, weird and wonderful.