Untitled (Black Is)

Boom the first track hits! then I got in tune with my inner blackness which is weird cause Im 43 and a chubby white dude from CA.

Here's the thing: I stopped listening at the track "Black". And this track is everything I dislike about the album so far and I couldn't listen further because of how uninteresting and unappealing this experience was. I appreciate every artist who doesn't just make music for the masses and just for the grooves, but with greater meaning and passion for an important theme, on this album its black identity, black empowerment, black pride etc. But if you want to spark some thoughts or have a listener feel something, you need to show some emotion - be angry, be sad, be happy, be eccentric or powerful or raw. I didn't hear anything of this at all on this album. Just one track after another being as unappealing and repetitive as can be with bland messages and no clear statement at all. What is the point being made on this album? "Black." "I'm black." "We all know black is beautiful, you know? Well now you do." What are these lyrics? The instrumentation on this thing also is as minimal as can be. Either there's just one instrument looping around some chords or it's just a beat that every time goes on way longer than it needs to be. There are some beats on here that I liked, but the repetition and length of it took the patience off me every single track. In the last two years I digged deeply in the Hip Hop culture and found some great artists which by now count as some of my most favourite artists ever, some of theme are often making music on or around this topic as well like Kendrick Lamar on good kid, maad city or especially on To Pimp a Butterfly. I watched the fantastic Beyoncé live concert from a couple of years ago and saw some great power and determination. It wasn't exactly my type of music but I loved how full of expression one can be when you are passionate about something. I'm sure SAULT didn't do it for nothing and I am a bit curious if the other records pull it off better because I heard it on some other reviews, but this record just doesn't do it for me and renders a honorable concept extremely bland and boring. And that's a shame.

I gotta be honest, I’m pretty tired of the incessant racial propaganda in America in 2022. Our culture worships black people. It doesn't take a genius to notice that blackness is ONLY praised, and whiteness, we're told, either doesn't exist, or is inherently evil. Every media outlet portrays blacks as empowered and every movie/show portrays whites as dumb, weak or evil. Every corporation glorifies blackness. BLM protestors unironically think they’re fighting the system when every news source and company and TV show and advertisement and CEO “coincidentally” say the exact same things they do. This racial tension only benefits the ruling class, and distracts from real issues of economic inequality or climate change. All over the internet it’s normal to hate white people for their color. Hell, even the week I’m writing this, a black man who had talked about killing white people online went and shot up the NYC subway. 15 years ago few people even THOUGHT about race, and we were on track to a world where race didn’t affect how you were seen. But today, everyone is rabidly fixated on race, and people’s entire personalities are centered on the color of their skin or their sexuality. People aren't proud of their accomplishments, no, somehow they are proud of their skin color. Years ago MLK promoted peace and harmony, but today, blacks are told to be perpetually angry and bitter. It reminds me of the constant war machine in Orwell’s 1984; if the people are consistently angry, their anger can be harnessed. Today there is a “forever war”, a constant stream of manufactured outrage. SJWs scour the internet to find ANY tiny example of oppression, usually in the form of 10 year-old tweets, so that their sad worldview remains intact. But the demand for racism is higher than the supply, so isolated events are blown out of proportion and used to justify dismantling everything about society. There is no aspect of life that isn’t viewed through the distorted lens of oppression. Our culture’s fatal obsession with identity has caused rifts that will take a century to heal. Identity politics only divides us all; it’s thinly veiled tribalism. Identity politics has destroyed honest political discourse among groups: every person is viewed mainly as a member of a group and not an individual, and it’s not the truth of what you say that matters, but whether you belong to the right group. Anyway, I didn't vibe with this album. “Black lives matter” is completely true as a STATEMENT, obviously, but as a MOVEMENT, it is destructive and counterproductive. Identity politics is a complete disaster. A post-racial world was within our grasp, but instead we are more divided today than we have been in decades, and it makes me sad. The music was 3/5. -1 point for the fact that a third of the tracks are just cringey racial affirmation ASMR. 2/5

Wow, an album from 2020. Must be one of the most recent albums on the list. One of the things I love about this project is that I listen to things I normally wouldn't. Some of those things turn out terribly as expected, but others, like this one, are really pleasant surprises. This album just exudes a warm feeling that envelopes the listener. Really nice. 4 stars.

Genre bending all in the service of this intense introspection. Don't Shoot Gun Sound then turns that into an immediate regrounding in the physical. This is cool to listen to as an art piece, but I don't know that I would come back to it. Clearly its a masterpiece.

NPR ranked "Untitled (Black Is)" as it's #1 album of 2020, and while it's not my #1, SAULT certainly made an album of the moment that captured the zeitgeist and feels timely and cathartic. There is a lot of variety on the album, yet it still feels cohesive. It is pleading and desperate at times, and hopeful and uplifting at others.

I very much doubt that I'm the target audience for this album. Initially I enjoyed the beats and there's some really nice progressions in there. What I disliked is the politicking, sure it's contemporary, but damn does it pull its punches. Listening back to Public Enemy, NWA, RATM - they went for the jugular, they meant it with a passion. This album had the potential, but somehow got watered-down with lightweight easy-to-swallow commercial chants for an ASMR generation.

Does the fact that the band doesn't do press etc make the music more interesting or does it just help it get past hipsters? It's fairly minimal album musically and has a mix of detached vocals. It's desperate for you to know that it's MAKING A COMMENT. This is an IMPORTANT ALBUM. Fair enough for trying, but the music lacks soul. From the themes that it addresses, I'm sure there's meant to be emotional involvement but it feels more like a cynical grab to hang on to BLM and hope no one notices. There are many other albums out there that do it better than this. Best Tracks: Wildfires; Bow; Monsters

In this day and age, "Sault eschew interaction with the media, they have never played a live show, given an interview or released a music video in support of their music and features an array of unnamed collaborators," is an astonishing sentence. Been on my list of things to get around to listening to for ages

The last three albums from Steely Dan, Janis Joplin and The Who were classics that pegged my rating needle at 5, so I can’t help but worry about following those up with something I have had no concept of from 2020. Within the first minute all that was swept away. This is an incredible work that stuns me with its gravitas and unflinching examination of the racial trauma of our time in a moving, emotional piece of art. I was absolutely entranced by this album. It directly expresses outrage, grief, anger and fear imbued with such beauty exuding pride and affirmation that it lifts and inspires. I marvel at the talent that was able to pull off this seemingly impossible feat. This album speaks urgently to our time. If only everyone could listen...

When I first saw it, I was really looking forward to listen to it. I expected and emotional album with deep messages. Unfortunately it did not catch me as I expected. Some tracks were good but all in all its too long in my opinion.

Some nice beats but mostly shite

Impressive showcase of creativity and musicianship fueled by strong and important beliefs. Efforts like these give a reason for publishing a new version of '1001' each year. A bit too few strong, memorable tracks to hit a 5/5 rating.

Stylish, deep, funky, rootsy, spiritual, angry, hopeful…proud. Politically and socially charged for sure, but for once I didn’t feel bludgeoned over the head by the message of an album of this type and so ended up enjoying it a lot.

How does this have so many 5 stars? I don't find this groundbreaking or even really interesting. If you like the same repetitive beat, repetitive lyrics through an entire song then this is for you.

I (think) I appreciate what is trying to be said on this album, but I just can't get around how repetitive and boring the tracks are. These are clearly songs about pride and anger, but no emotion comes through. I'm guessing the positive critical acclaim had a lot to do with the social climate when the album was released (RIP George Floyd.) It feels like spoken word poetry over a bunch of synth presets, and the album feels so LONG. So in summary: 10/10 messaging, 1/10 music.

I appreciate the concept of this album but only liked one song well enough for a relisten

J - This album is trying to make me feel bad for being white S - Repetitive... kinda of gentle but aggressive at the same time. I don't understand it.

its like a watered down, surface-level observation on race issues with bad beats. in my list, there were plenty of albums that have expressed it with a lot more passion, depth and musicality, so this album is just weird also whats up with racial affirmation ASMR in the middle of a music album?

Tricky one. It feels too soon to really tell if an album is a real classic or not less than 5 years from release. That said, this one might be a real contender. The political/cultural content is powerful and timely. The sound is quite extraordinary. It has been a long time since I heard a record taking established genres (soul, r'n'b, hip-hop, afrobeat, jazz) and turning them into something new and fresh, not just a mélange of styles. Maybe Massive Attack is the last precedent. I've listened to this three times through in a row, and I am still wrapping my head around it. The singing and playing is also excellent. Does it feel a bit churlish to say that the songs feel a little under-developed, like sketches for something more polished? Many songs are repetitive without seeming to go anywhere. Or do I not quite get this yet? It also has skits, which I really don't like. They never hold up as a listening experience. I will be really interested to see how history remembers this record in another ten years. It might be forgotten, or it might be recognized as the beginning of some whole new movement in music. Time will tell, but it's hard to predict right now. 3.5 stars.

Industrial soul that's forward looking and deeply rooted. Emerging from BLM, the lyrics are urgently political; at their best they're an expression of pain and rage, at worst it's a ripped from online a mix of sloganeering and irritating self-help affirmation. It's never very subtle, but that's not what the moment demanded of artists - and the songwriting transcends the immediate overt 'relvance' of the content. Overall this is a stylistically rich blend of sounds from across a wide spectrum of genres woven into a cohesive affecting album pushing soul forward. Stop Dem and Hard Life are haunting church harmonies set against slow brooding grooves that erupt into joyous gospel jazz. Sometimes these transitions feel very forced, like mandatory optimism - they can't end on a down note so have a sudden turn out of nowhere from the deep solemnity of dark techno into kind of vapid 'everything's going to be alright' hippy outro. Wildfires, Monsters, and Sorry Ain't Enough swap the techno-bass for a jazzy RnB bass and more organic arrangements that continues the dark melancholy feel. Bow, the song with Michael Kiwanuka, adds an afro-psych (fuzzy wah-wah guitars + soukous arpegios) sound and pan-African thematic to the mix. Eternal Life floats on a blissed-out synth pop riff that the vocalists orbit around and as the beat rises and falls. Miracles combines a reggae groove and a trip-hop vibe to make a platform for powerful back an forth between the main vocalist and her backing singers. The album closes on the Motown sounds of Pray Up Stay Up, a simple dinky piano+deep bass hook with a southern spiritual refrain looping along - the chant remains even after the fade out. 9 albums in two years does suggest they're a prolific collective, but might benefit from some curation. A trimmed down double album of this and Rise would be really incredible. Favorites: Wildfires, Sorry Ain't Enough, Bow, Eternal Life, Monsters

Good beats, good production. I liked the whole album, but no single track jumped out at me.

This is a toughie. The production is great, the message is essential, but the lyricism and vocals seem designed to appeal to the blandest Guardian music pages Radio 2 I buy one album a year and it's usually by Ed Sheeran type bore. Are the lyrics kept simple and unchallenging so that they don't alienate these people? Are the vocals so MOR to ensure more people get down to the message eventually? Everything about this album should appeal to me, but a lot of it seems to be kept so tame when right now it feels like it should be time for action, rather than a strongly worded letter. The problem with What's Going On by Marvin Gaye is it made a revolutionary message sound so pleasant nobody went away remembering the important bit. This album seems to fall into the same trap. Sod it though, I'm the worst sort of white, liberal bore myself. Maybe it's not aimed at those who want parity between people of colour killed unlawfully by the police and police killed (ideally both should be zero, and the police should have more stringent firing policies for racists, homophobes and misogynists). It's not aimed at people who would happily pay good money to watch everybody involved in GB News killed slowly in a pay per view. They probably know much better than me - I couldn't have made this album. Ah well. It's a good album with a big problem for my ears.

SAULT, a music collective of unknown members, primarily focuses on issues surrounding race and blackness. It's potent work and you can tell they were trying to make something truly powerful with the lyrical content here and the way instrumentation gives vocals the spotlight. The downside is that it is considerably heavy-handed it is and how boring the instrumentation is. the fourth track "Don't Shoot Guns Down" will repeat "racist policeman" as if I didn't know what they were referring to already. Especially considering the contextual backdrop of policing around the time this came out (June of 2020), I don't care to be spoon-fed the issues. The exception to the lapse in quality is Eternal Life, which is a genuinely beautiful song. I wish more of the album was like Eternal Life, but I guess the creative vision was more focused on whatever else Untitled has going on. Idk this wasn't for me. Given the range of neo-soul out there, I think this might be some of the weakest. There's some tracks that are worth your time but the whole thing is not something I would listen to again. Felt more like a chore than anything.

An artful mixture of an outpouring of urgent grief and emotion, interspersed with snippets of the intimate daily lives of Black people and people from Black origins. I haven't ever taken a deep dive into SAULT's music before but I love the variety of styles and sounds and samples. I love that they hardly interact with the media and fascinated that they never do live shows. I'd love to meet them and talk to them about their processes and choices, so interesting. I particularly love more vintage R&B with the woman vocals/hook like Hard Life but also love their original take on that. It's like a battle march/war cry mixed with a house track! All of the voices are mesmerising I especially love the appearance of Michael Kiwanuka (I'm a big fan) on this album. It's a real snapshot of an intense and shocking point in time in June 2020.

I flit between really liking this and it really irritating me. The sound is really cool, as Hector says it's like a more modern Massive Attack, there's a really fun range in there. It goes on a bit too long, but the thing that grates on me is that there are too many places where it's just completely lacking in any sort of subtlety with the messaging, painfully so, and that jars with the style of the music quite a lot. Appreciate that a 3 minute song is not the easiest place to have a nuanced discussion about race, but there are a few too many moments where this album is let down by some real lowest-common-denominator lyrics and messages. Still gets a 3/5 based on the highs.

bad

Didn't realise the list went up to 2020. Not for me.

“Dancefloor positivity idealized and politicized, most militantly on this third album, which surfaced just in time for a BLM moment we're free to pray lasts approximately forever.”

Liked Only Synth in Church a lot Pray Up Stay Up was good too - upbeat, good piano, faint jazz in the background - kind of repetitive though But album definitely gives off black supremacy vibes - all for pride in race/culture but this seems as though they're above equality and superior to other races.

The message is important and good. But it's too obvious, too much asmr whispering and not enough music. To connect both was already shown to be possible in the 90s...

volao

January 15, 2024 HL: “Bow”*, “Eternal Life”, “Black”, “Wildfires”, “Hard Life”, “Sorry Ain’t Enough” Something I noticed about some of the newest albums’ inclusion is that they don’t make a lot of sense in a vacuum. Evermore doesn’t make a lot of sense without Folklore; Chemtrails Over the Country Club is an odd duck without its contrast to Lana’s earlier albums. Untitled (Black Is) also drove me to a second Sault album (aka “Rise”), for 3 reasons: to get a better sense of their eclectic, studio-heavy production; because Black Is ended on what I felt was an intentionally unresolved note; and finally, because I was havin’ a heck of a time. Alright that’s 2 straight hours of Sault over with, and my findings are that the 2 Untitled's enrich each other. Black Is feels incomplete? The last 6 songs in Rise feel like a proper dénouement. Black Is’s politics are too broad and simple? Rise is more specific and overtly angry. Rise is too moody and lowkey? Black Is is celebratory despite the grief in the lyrics. Untitled (Black Is) by itself probably gets a 4.5 from me, but we're rounding up today. P.S. The 1001 book describes Black Is as 1980’s Prince-like on the surface level but is actually closer to Massive Attack. I feel that’s apt. P.S.S. It's now been over 3 years since I started this 1001 racket. I've already recently gave some of my first albums a second shot; because I didn't bother writing anything at the time, my memory of them was pretty unreliable. Nas and Mylo had some pretty great entries that I totally overlooked at the time, yet getting MJ Cole and Metallica back-to-back was probably the moment that I quit for a year. I couldn't tell you a single thing about the Bill Evans or Mudhoney albums I listened to in 2021, so I guess I'll have to check them out as well.

What a great album, great sounds, great lyrics great message. Loved it

I’ve not heard of this group or album. I loved the sultry sound and powerful lyrics

Ashley's favorite

super on point, quality all the way through... start a universal love trend people

I like this so much. How could I not know this group?

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Stop dem, Hard life, Don’t shoot guns down, Wildfires, Sorry ain’t enough, Bow, Black, Eternal life

Power and resistance through understated funky grooves. Even spoken word nonsense can't bring down the vibe on this one. Best track: Wildfires

super cool album like a non-stop wave on unique styles all coming together in really neat ways definitely one of the best alternative albums I’ve heard 10/10

Funky and fresh, liked the experimentation a lot

Sublime

I already fell in love with this album.

I'm poisoned by the 90s. I was really dreading this when it came up because of how much I hated popular 90s r&b, but it was the best album this thing has served me yet.

Listened to Air recently which I loved for the Stepney/Reich vibes in equal measure. That's nothing like this, I've only heard bits before, enough to know that Air was a departure, and that they released music faster than I could keep up. This is pretty wonderful. Never stays the same, never dips in quality. Fully justified inclusion, hopefully will withstand the brutal culls that more modern albums suffer with each new edition.

A 2020 album... Wow. Super enjoyable, a quieter new funk style that I really click with. Put it on next time you have a backyard BBQ party, people will love it.

One of the few bands that have gotten through my middle aged cynic barrier in the past few years. It's good. Like they've taken the sounds of 90/00s hip and R&B and boiled off all of the superfluous bullshit. Often leaving just some amazing drum production and fuzzy bass. Everything that is left is there for a reason, perfectly judged and full of soul.

I heard this when it was released and figured it would make its way onto 1001, if for no other reason than it was on so many critics’ top ten lists. I just didn’t think I’d still be around on 1001 to review it. It’s an eclectic, hard-to-pin down sound, it’s unlikely you’d say, “oh, they’re a bit like…”. There’s a definite 70s psychedelic progressive soul feel, some gospel, but at the same time the production is modern electronic, minimalist, with an emphasis on the vocalists, and there’s definitely a few of them! The collective nature keeps the overall sound fresh and the lyrics are unapologetically focused on race, and social justice. The first time through I thought the short, spoken, connector-songs could have been done away with, but when listening again from start to finish, everything fits nicely.

Can't get enough of Cleo Sol's voice, it's just gorgeous. Also realised that she also provides vocals for some Lil Simz tracks I really like (e.g. 'Woman'). On the whole thing - I knew Wildfires from the radio, but this was the first time I'd listened to a SAULT album. Great music from beginning to end and an important message. Depressing to read more racist reviews on this site though, some of them for this album are frankly disgusting.

An amazing album. Both timely and timeless. Love the voices, the sentiment and the way this weaves so many styles together. If I had to choose, the electronic sounds are my favourites here; the gospel-tinged tracks my least favourite, but it all hangs together and flows beautifully. A powerful statement for the ages, and one you can sway to, too.

Cool vibes

Super-dope tunes.

Very nice sound! Got a new genre to try out

I have been a fan of SAULT since discovering them in 2020. I actually prefer "Rise" which they released 13 months later but this album is also excellent and I think it can be considered as the first half of a double album. Of note for me is "Don't Shoot, Guns Down" which despite only having 2/3 lines of lyrics, successfully manages to conjure up dark and disturbing imagery. "Wildfires" delivers its strong and important message wrapped in a beautiful and delicate melody. I particularly like the attempt to describe the entire black experience. The album contains protest songs but also songs that celebrate black culture and history. 4.5/5 ("Rise" would get a 4.5+)

Superb album. All Sault albums are worth having!

Undeniable vibes. Hadn't heard this before, and I'm not sure how.

This album absolutely captures the zeitgeist of BLM with grooves, intelligent lyrics and light, expressive production. One of only a few albums of the last few years that's stopped me in my tracks. Completely satisfying.

Really liked this. Smart, angry, lush and full of unexpected musical surprises. I can see why the critics rave about these guys.

Listening to this was filling a gap between Little Simz and Michael Kiwanuka, and I loved it. I also imagine that this music is something Gambino listens to, which inherently elevates it.

This album reminded me of Moby from the 1990s. Somatically similar music and script down lyrics with one theme presented within. The stripped down lyric carries no explanation, leaving us the listener to determine that explanation. The simplistic lyrics create an opportunity to question beliefs about the narratives that I have heard yet will never experience. Musically the beat and underlying steady theme is punctuated by various music styles throughout Africa’s regions and countries, creating a unique listening experience of African sounds. All in all this is the type of album that I want to hear from 1001 generator. I want new music that challenges me and this collection did just that. It is a one and done for me. Chances are I won’t go back to this album and make it part of my repertoire however, it was well worth listening to for deeper understanding of myself and others.

I Really liked the lyrics and the beat box sound and music and was pleasantly surprised that it was not "Rap" music...but the spoken word parts were like poetry...it was beautiful.....<3

What a power house. Perfect album.

i can’t believe i’ve never heard of this group before. they’re on my list now, this album was excellent.

amazing, beautiful. vocals are on point and the whole album is just gorgeous. the messaging moved me as well.

Incredible production, heart wrenching topics tackled in a beautiful way and the interludes take nothing away from the experience, rather enhance it greatly.

Fantastic

Genuinely an honest, beautiful album. Pleasantly surprised.

SAULT have quickly become one of the most exciting bands around to me. This one has some of their best tracks too. Straight fire.

Some really great tracks here. I enjoyed this album and that feels pretty unusual coming from a modern band Id never heard of

Amazing album! To the point and effective

I loved this. Hopeful, uplifting, great music. Really great.

As a band, they blew my mind. Absolutely love this album. 5*s

Wow. Powerful messaging delivered in a great package.

This album from 2020 was unexpected, being so recent. It was unfamiliar and it was stunningly beautiful.

This album has a sound and a swagger that is rare and special. "Monsters" in particular is an amazing song.

Outstanding, thought provoking and moving

very cool

This album took me on so many journeys, both with its beautiful, varied music and its beautiful, varied messages. It is so very much about today, and yet a very old story. I was moved, I was taught, I was heartbroken, I was inspired, I was hopeful.

✊🏾

Great journey

A tricksy album to discuss, in that it took me several days to write this. Exceptionally well-made, the cover itself tells us that discussed within are serious, emotive issues. Such an undertaking behoves that both the album and the listener adopt a suitably mature attitude, as frivolity easily could turn to offence. Largely, the album succeeds so. Yes, I proffer minor caveats, but not enough to upset anyone, I hope. The genesis of SAULT and this album are rather commentable on their own. SAULT are a black music collection, apparently based in Britain, who have never given a definitive list of band members, let alone performed live or released a video. Emerging in 2019 with the album 5, they would also publish the album 7 in the same year, then this album and Untitled (Rise) the next year. Untitled (Black Is) was released in June 2020, a month after the death of George Floyd at the knee of a police officer. George Floyd's death would sparks protests across not only America, but much of the world, and this album is a declared revolt against systematic racism, of which police brutality is just one symptom. As I said, this is an album to take seriously. The parenthesised title serves as the leitmotif of the album, especially during the spoken word sections, with lists declaring what black is. And here's a caveat: I recognise the intended positivity of these parts, but that didn't prevent me finding them a touch platitudinous. Obvious messages will seem obvious: me saying democracy is a good thing is clearly right, but hardly paradigm-shifting, despite the prevalence of dictatorships in our time. Another caveat: invoking God and religion never stirs me all righteous in protest works. Is religion that effective a mechanism of social improvement? Couldn't God just solve all this right now? Don't millions think God is on the side of that racist traitor Tr*mp? Appealing to Christianity didn't really work on What's Going On, doesn't really work here. (And yes, I believe I have failed in my ambition to avoid upsetting anyone). I think that's the end to the caveats. The most conspicuous aspect of this album is its production: it's dauntingly good, warm yet crisp, like a good roast potato. The second most conspicuous aspect is its kaleidoscopic eclecticism. Although this site classifies the album as soul and funk, the album respectfully passes through gospel, doo-wop, reggae, hip-hop, R&B, and even African polyrhythms. Thankfully, the album avoids the senselessness that occasionally arises when artists try so many genres so rapidly. But the album stands on the resonance of its message. In that regard, they've shown their workings (although when they sing the line "From Egypt to Libya", they forget that the two countries border one another, so it's not really continent-encompassing). It's worthwhile, indeed it's slightly humbling, to listen to the album whilst reading the lyrics. For all the album's focus on racial justice and equality, it's also a profoundly feminine album. With some exception, the voices of this album are exclusively female, and the album bombards with love, reassurance and optimism. For all its justified outrage, this is an album that wants to hug the world, and pleads with the world to justify its hug. An album with a wonderful heart, and one a damn sight nobler than Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet going all anti-Semitic, methinks.

Solid listen.

Very good heard this when released and I preferred untitled (rise) - but after listening to this again I thought this one is way better

Figo, mi piace. Black power!

Very good, and a very distinctive sound. Puts me in mind of Masters at Work output. In terms of production and polish maybe a little inconsistent - but that’s a very minor quibble.

SAULT are making some great records. Love the retro feel they manage to have while still sounding modern. Possibly too long, but putting out three albums in a year would have been ridiculous does make it feel a little more like a mixtape than an album to my ears though. I generally prefer the more 'up' first half to the second, but it's all good.

Never heard of this band before but they're pretty cool. Starts off a lot stronger than it ends, and it's quite a mixed bag at points, but overall really enjoyed it.

R&b. Interesante

Väldigt bra! Gillar hur det hålls själfullt trots det faktum att de flesta beats är väldigt simpla.

I like all of their stuff but slightly preferred the other one released in this year.

An interesting one

Funk-soul suave. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

I liked this album at first, then it got pretty experimental, then it got good again. Not music meant for me but it’s still really good and the Spotify radio that came on after it was great and I’m still listening to it

A good discovery.I loved the voices and the tone. Although after the 7th song it gets a little repetitive, it is a good album.

I loved this, I don’t know how I’ve never heard of this

I'm surprised to see such a new record make the list, and such an excellent choice at that. This was one of my favourite albums of 2020 and it was a joy to revisit. Very timely, thoughtful, and evocative release from the mysterious British collective. It's such a compelling stew of heterogeneous influences thoughtfully recontextualized into something profound and meaningful. I feel like I'm also impressed at the ambitious scope of this album. While it occasionally feels a little more stylish than substantial (which, it is EXTREMELY stylish), the passion and care are undeniable. The more obvious moments are consistently overshadowed by this record's many highlights and clarity of vision. Fave tracks: Hard Life, Wildfires, Bow, Miracles

At first listen this album has a great groove but it was repetitive. As I thought about it, I realize the repetition was to drill the very important messages about being black into our brains. Powerful.

A dignified and thought-provoking outpouring of anger at a moment when, just maybe, the world started to take notice? Musically subtle which makes the one-the-nose lyrics all the more affecting and powerful. This is a beautiful and sad album, with a message of hope just about keeping the sense of defeatedness at bay. Rating: 5/5 Playlist track: Wildfires Date listened: 06/12/23

Powerful and uplifting message flow throughout a record was released at the exact right time. Cleo Soul's vocals take centre stage, supported by the talent and sometimes funky, sometimes angry, sometimes hopeful backing band. Sometimes the band falls into "Jungle" territory, where it's style over substance, but the direction, care and emotion always comes back to the forefront. Fave track: Wildfires