‘What Now’ is yet another genre-blending tapestry that improves upon the blemishes of Brittany Howard’s debut project, allowing the compositions to shine through. The saturated melodies, evocative performances, and emotionally strong-willed writing overall create consistent strength that allows the 2nd project to go all out with glorious immensity.
‘What Now’ is an album in the midst of questioning and wandering in relationship situations that seem to be slipping back and forth, lending frustrations at the end of it all. Brittany Howard past her Alabama Shakes days now invests in her own solo projects, spinning through genre-blending psychedelic soul that she can carry greatly through her voice on ‘Jamie’, her solo debut exploring her personal identity within sectors of religion, queer romance, and familial introspections. That project might carry weight thanks to Brittany Howard and the brand of psychedelic soul, rock, and blues that she delves into, but the overall production strips out the quality that the compositions, the writing, and the performances accentuate.
Gladly, ‘What Now’ doesn’t have those issues this time, with producer Shawn Everett letting out those smoldering organic textures and lively compositions to bask in its glory. The flourish of the singing bowls and their ambient passages, feverish and rash guitars and percussions, and Brittany Howard’s immense vocals are laced consistently with impressive results. ‘What Now’ and ‘Power To Undo’ evoke ravishing power from the way the guitars snarl and the drums punch through, allowing Brittany Howard to howl away. The gleaming softness of ‘To Be Still’ and ‘Samson’ take their time to soothe and mediate as the hushed harmonies glide across the nimble guitars and trembling gongs on the former song and the bouquet of hazy horns, gleaming keys, and shifting percussions on the latter song are genuinely comforting. Then there are ‘Red Flags’ and ‘Patience’ that cross over the seething bangers and the lilting cooldowns, allowing the belting on the former cut’s chorus to work effectively and the swaggering funk on the latter to stick out with confidence. Yet comes the surprise house embellished groove of ‘Prove It To You’, an immediate standout where the saturated mix lets that house implementation connect all throughout. While the only weak point in this project is that there are cuts that don’t offer the same melodic punch as a lot of these tracks, ‘Earth Sign’ despite the lack of a hook is a solar flare opener where the melodies and vocals just sweeps across the map, foreshadowing the sonic fervor this album goes toward as it progresses.
This brand of accentuated mix allows Brittany’s writing work within the album. Unlike the last project’s various tangents surrounding Brittany’s personal touchstones, this coils around the romance that she seeks and the conflicts that are spurred within it, furthermore creating tension in the relationships that she discusses. Yet amidst that long-lasting strain that affects her emotions deeply as she tries to keep that love together, then finds her sense of peace after her efforts don’t work, there is still a sense of inner strength that she keeps throughout it. And the overall lyricism does show that in clear sight, her flaming spirit and passion blow through in-between these boiling tensions in the romance. Where even if she finds herself wading in the blues at the final cut, she still keeps a bit of energy that she will recharge, before she goes out there to seek love again.
A genre-blending project that carries its flaming-hot sonic and melodic sparks from start to end, ‘What Now’ and its overall improvement in production allows the melodies, performances, and writing to finally break through with immense aplomb. Taking its saturated sonic temperatures to gloss over Brittany Howard’s magnetic vocal presence as she stomps through snarling bangers and coos through meditating cooldowns without giving away her impassioned spirit, emphasized within writing that carries its own brand of tension. The title might give away the tentative step Brittany Howard will take as she takes her time for the storm to pass by, it won’t take long for the sun to shine through and the colors of the rainbow to finally be seen again, allowing her to step out and find her way across her inner passion once more.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Earth Sign’, ‘What Now’, ‘Red Flags’, ‘To Be Still’, ‘Prove It To You’, ‘Samson’, ‘Patience’, ‘Power To Undo’
Least Favorite Track: ‘Another Day’