Reviews (page 2 of 7)
Untitled (Black Is) I’m familiar with some of this as they play Sault a lot on 6 Music, and the bits I do know, like Wildfires, I really like. The drumming/rhythms/percussion throughout is fantastic, and I love the instrumental touches throughout like the synths on something like Eternal Life or Only Synth in Church, the piano on the Sly Stone-esque Pray Up, Stay Up. It makes sense that Kiwanuka is involved in parts of it, as it shares the same vintage soul feel, but combined with more modern r’n’b sound, as well as soul, funk, pop, rock and with some psychedelic strokes here and there. Wildfires shares some of the same feel as The Smoke by The Smile, in its slinky bass groove and jazzy drums, and that combination of bass and percussion stands out on multiple tracks, like the excellent Bow with it’s fantastic 60s-ish guitars, the sad and mournful Why We Cry Why We Die and the organny Monsters. Miracles is a great track, with slightly doo-wop, very early 60s Motown feel with some lovely guitar. Stop Dem is another interesting track, with it’s slightly discordant feel, and there’s elements of The Doors in the 5 to 1-esque sections of Hard Life. Sorry Ain’t Enough has a nice 90s soul feel, a bit Lauryn Hill, with some more excellent drumming. It perhaps is a few too many tracks for its 56 minutes, but it is a great album, and I’ve listened to it a lot over the last day or so. Easily a high 4, keen to revisit. 🖤🖤🖤🖤 Playlist submission: Bow
I actually really enjoyed this. I don't understand the hateboner everyone else has for this album... admittedly it did feel a little bit weird being told that I am a powerful Black person when I am not Black.
Oh, Lord grant me the confidence of a white man telling me that current race events are blown out of proportion. I remember first hearing Wildfires and was blown away by it. I bought the vinyl having not heard any other track and absolutely loved it. It's thought provoking and important but with a theme of love and pride running through it. Love the "Black is..." voice overs between tracks too. Nice nod to The Warriors which is a dope movie.
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
Un album de Kiwanuk-soul dans lequel SAULT s'engage pour une cause qui lui tient à cœur. Je soutiens moi-même plusieurs causes que je vais lister ci-dessous : ● L'interdiction de la country. ● L'interdiction du metal. ● L'interdiction du post-punk. ● L'interdiction du trip-hop. ● L'interdiction d'eltrapeze. ● L'interdiction du père d'eltrapeze. ● L'interdiction de mon propre père, s'étant bien trop rapproché d'eltrapeze.
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
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
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 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
Funk-soul suave. Me ha gustado. Un 4.
Väldigt bra! Gillar hur det hålls själfullt trots det faktum att de flesta beats är väldigt simpla.
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.
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.
Very good heard this when released and I preferred untitled (rise) - but after listening to this again I thought this one is way better
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.
An interesting one
Figo, mi piace. Black power!
Really good
R&b. Interesante
My second time this week getting an album from the recent five years thinking meh, modern music doesn't grip me and for the second time I'm floored. I can see why SAULT is classified as R&B/Soul but there is so much more to this album that doesn't fit into those genres. There's some Jazz, 80s Pop, New Wave elements. It's a very poetic, easy listener of an album. 4.5/5.
I like all of their stuff but slightly preferred the other one released in this year.
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.
October 27, 2021 This broadened my horizons and was an enjoyable listen!
I loved this, I don’t know how I’ve never heard of this
New to me but a lot to like here. Too much interstitial bullshit cost them an entire star but to the extent this was produced after George Floyd's killing I will chalk it up to trying times where everyone felt compelled to express themselves but no one knew how. But overall, the sounds and songs land well. Massive Attack for the kids of today? "Wildfires" sounds a helluva lot like a mashup of (1970s krautrock gods) Can's "Vitamen C" and (American contemporary soul band) Black Pumas' "Colors." Like, go listen to those three songs in a row as I just did and you will LOL. I'm looking forward to checking these guys out more but fair warning if they persist with all the non signs/music bullshit they will lose me fast. Fingers crossed!
Man, some of the reviews are a mess. Can I just say - lived experience trumps your comfort - Middle Aged White Dude, 2025. Now that's out of the way. Its an interesting album, unique blends of hip hop beats, sampling (so many genres), R & B vocals, with some contemplative lyrics. Its not a difficult listen, musically. Lyrically its challenging, but that's about me, and probably you too.
I really didn't know how to rate this.
The minimalism and cut-up approach distinguishes this, taking what might otherwise be bathetic trad soul tracks and subtracting instruments and track length until this becomes a Jazz Café “Straight Outta Compton”, a simultaneously more jagged and less futuristic cousin to Massive Attack, no bad thing. Sadly, the songs are flat and the lyrics are terrible. Initially I was sympathetic to the sentiments, but the succession of abstract sloganeering and detail-free declarations make this the lyrical equivalent of a ‘90’s Benetton ad. Not every protest record need evoke Nina Simone or Woodie Guthrie or Chuck D, but there’s nothing here, just vague vibes, “you go girl”, wearying nothing.
WHITE LIVES MATTER
Not my cup of tea... hard to get into.
Nice beats, but gets a bit boring 2/5
Just terrible. Would have sounded derivative in 1996, now just puzzling why anyone would make something so dull. Couldn't even finish it
A concept is not an album. I share the understanding of importance regarding racism, oppression and inequality but didn't feel anything with this album. I know it was not made for me nor my bubble of white non-american guys, but this feels more like a statement from the author than the appreciation of black music.
This album seems more intent on delivering a message than providing a pleasurable musical experience. I came for the music and was left wanting. Message or not, this type of thing is not my jam.
Genuinely one of the worst albums I've ever heard in my entire life. This record is embarassingly pathetic. It tries way way too hard to be super "deep" and "a true statement!" that they forgot the most important thing about music. Making it listenable. This fails spectacularly especially in songs like "Don't Shoot Guns Down", which features the saddest attempt at "singing" I've ever heard. The short lyrics are read off like a fast food worker who just saw 30 people walk in right before closing. The saddest part is, outside of Michael Kiwanuka saving "Bow" and "Wildfires", this album was actually not bad before "Don't Shoot Guns Down". After that though, and especially after "Bow", this album nosedives. Every song's lyrics just get worse and worse. I swear they stenonographed a poetry slam night and called it a day. Garbage. Every song also goes on for far far too long. "Black" is an especially pathetic song that runs on 2 minutes longer with pretty much no change from within the first minute. None I can remember at least. Vocals are terribly recorded, having a dumb echo and distortion sound nearly every song. How is this considered essential exactly? The message? There are 1001 albums out there with this message that are 10x better than this pile of shit. Hell, there were probably 1001 albums released in 2020 alone thaf were better than this and also had the same message. I'm not even sure I'd put it anywhere near a list of essential SAULT albums from 2020. This record fucking sucks. What a waste of an hour
Couldn’t get into that at all. Not really my type of thing at the best of times but found it dull and turgid, may as well have been background music in a lift.
Musically I'd give this a 3. Some beats and riffs I enjoyed but a ton of repetition. Lyrically, it's an hour of BLM indoctrination which ruined the entire listening experience.
this was utter rubbish, wasted the best part of an hour of my life listening to this monstrosity. There is a song on this called 'Don't Shoot Guns Down'. it was at this point I wanted to pick up a gun and shoot my laptop so it would stop the music playing.
Self important, self righteous ASMR. Terrible identity politics turned into music.
The anti-police lyrics broke it for me
Boring shite
Pretty terrible album. Overtly political and lacking substance. Pointless to be on this list as it’s not actually good music. 0.0/10
Masterpiece bro I swear #black
I loved this album when it came out and I still return to it on a semi-regular basis, this was a lovely re-introduction. I’ve no doubts this is a must listen for wildfires alone but there are so many wonderful tracks I’d be here all day talking about my favourites.
My unhinged first reaction to hearing this album was, "This sounds like Black Pumas, why aren't they on this list?" Once I got over myself I was able to appreciate this album for the great, empowering, positive, progressive album that it is. And it was distributed for free! I'm still looking forward to Black Pumas, though.
Wasn’t sure what to expect but this is beautiful.
As a white male, there is a LOT that I could never understand about experiences that are not my own. Saying things like “people never thought about race” or “why do you have to bring race/gender into it” is something that only someone who has the privilege of not having to think about race/gender gets. A person who is a different race has no choice to bring race into it, because race is a part of their everyday life. This album is very much a product of the time at which it was released. It happened to hit at the exact right time, speaking to a moment in ways that were unfortunately all too predictable when recording it. The fact is, there are certain things that ONLY happen to a small subset of people. This album is a testament to that. Frankly, the music here doesn’t always do it for me, but fuck all of the hideously racist reviews for this one. A very spiteful five stars. Dimery doesn’t always get it right, but kudos to him for including this one.
Dumpster fire review section for this on the website. I enjoyed this quite a bit, it's an incredibly well produced soul album that is intensely topical to 2020 and the George Floyd protests. The material situation since that time hasn't changed much, and if anything has only gotten worse in many ways, so I think the points the album makes lands. Part of my high rating though is also the production on display here. It seems like in the late 2010s and early 2020s there's been an increased awareness that people are listening to music on higher quality setups then ever before and its resulted in a push towards some lovely crisp sounding albums. I also really love the blend of 60s souls sounds with contemporary twists, "Miracles" is the best example of that for me. I'm really torn between a 4 and 5 because whilst I do love a lot of this album, I can't imagine coming back and listening to it all again as an album. I think it just does enough for a light 5 though, so the Kiwanuka features get a 5 streak continues!
Feel like I’m gonna be alone in our group here but I loved this.
251/1001 Sault - Untitled (Black Is) Heard before? ✅ Revisit? ✅ I specifically remember listening to this when it came out in June 2020 during the fallout from the George Floyd murder and having such an impact. Almost six years on, it still is a powerful album both celebrating Black lives, but criticising the police. Much like Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Sault's music is a soulful reflection of the state of the world at the time. There's plenty of interesting additions that keep this such an engaging listen.
I once again do not have a lot to say about an album I loved. Zero skips.
The morning I listened to this album was the lost creatively inspired I've felt in weeks. I spent this album thinking of stories and projects I wanted to write. I had heard much praise for the somewhat anonymous music collective known as SAULT, but had little experience with their music. Having finally taken a listen, I wish I had jumped on this bandwagon so much sooner, because this project is right up my alley. The blend of smooth, beautiful R&B vocals and rhythms with house and dance beats reminds me of some of my favorite electronic music projects growing up, mixed in with traditional African musical elements and steel drums. It is very fitting to see this album come directly after Paul Simon's Graceland on my list; where that album saw a prominent white artist of the time utilizing African music and bringing it to a new audience, Untitled (Black Is) sees a group of black musicians prominently showing off and celebrating that culture themselves. The music by committee approach to SAULT's music allows this album to sound like collectivism and community in sonic form, a celebration of black excellence and culture through powerful spoken word and fist-pumping electronic beats that I could listen to forever. Highlights: Out The Lies, Stop Dem, Hard Life, Wildfires, X, Sorry Ain't Enough, Black Is, Bow, This Generation, Why We Cry Why We Die, Black, Us, Eternal Life, Only Synth In Church, Monsters, June Child, Miracles, Hold Me, Pray up Stay Up
Dope
This was surprisingly good. Absolutely loved "Wildfires" and overall mood of the album.
I discovered both Sault and Michael Kiwanuka in basically the same week, and they opened up a new batch of hip-hop inflected r&b and soul, right when I was getting bored with the indie rock I'd been wallowing in for the last 10ish years. Maybe just a strong 4, but rounding up to counter balance all the reviews where it's apparent this album punched them right in their white fragility. ("Ugh, why do albums like this have to spend so much time talking about blackness being good and strong?! Can we go back to the unending stream of 1960s rock bands detailing the resilience of the white South?")
Underbart som att lyssna genom hela albumnet
Sorry, inte rasist
Caught me offguard, what a masterpiece!
Enjoyed it immensely.
It's really nice to discover music like this through the project! Artists still crafting excellent albums instead of throwing together a loose collection of singles is a beautiful thing.
Feels like I got in the wrong room, I am not supposed to be here.
Perfect album.
obvi
Loved this. Not sure how I missed it when it came out but there was a LOT going on
i was at 4 stars before kiwanuka came on
I love this album. I’m not sure how this group wound up on my radar, but it happened at exactly the right time, just about the time it was released. It spoke to the moment profoundly, but I also continue to listen to it regularly still. It’s hard to find much data about them, which I think adds to their appeal. Overall and excellent listen and probably the best contemporary addition to this list so far.
This was a great surprise! Did not know what to expect, but really special. Also, Spotify generated playlist after the album was great.
It's a powerful album that is raw, creative, and relevant. I think it's a great example of spoken poetry turned into a musical form with great production behind it.
Just a beautiful album
Really, really nice album! 5/5
I loved this. Hard to categorize. Totally new to me. Poetry. Very pleasantly surprised by this. 5
Loved this
Black is many things
Fuck yeah
A beautiful, powerful masterpiece!
Warm and tuneful
Soft 5. I was bumping to some of this. Not super into it, but I enjoyed the bits that weren't super artsy/experimental. I do think overall, it's competently made and a decent listen. 'Wildfires' is a certified banger though.
immediately one of my favourite albums
2020 was a horrible year, but something amazing came out of the grief and anger. A diamond created by the pressure and heat of the times we live in. Hold tightly to this.
Chillout <3
This was wild, session with lots of synth and great beats
Magical.
really nice melodies and great singing
I suppose this album is doing its job if it is upsetting people who think "nobody was talking about race 15 years ago". I also see people complaining of a lack of passion or anger. I dunno, not everything needs to be histrionic and besides this is as much as celebration as a protest. I like its cool modern approach to soul.
This is a really incredible album, borne in a year of a lot of upheaval. Not all albums earn an instant re-listen from me (especially since I'm more than a month behind), but this one did. I'm not entirely sure how to rate this one, just because it's still so recent. Like, I'm hesitant to give it a 5, just because I'm not sure how it'll age. But the music is incredible, and the message is very important and still relevant. I have a hard time believing this won't end up an all-time album. Favorite Song(s): Hard Life, Monsters, Wildflowers
A powerful statement on what it means to be Black in the modern world. It’s also a lot of fun to listen to.
It's all about being at the right place at the right time. Even though no one could have gone anywhere at all without risking their lives. SAULT poured themselves on the wounds that had been reopened and oozed onto familiar fabric, the fabric being their existences as a Black person living in a ceaselessly hostile world, that of which was reinforced by the deaths of many Black folk over the years such as George Floyd in the year of this album's release. Untitled (Black Is) is a modern day take on the progressive soul that was prevalent in the 70s, with more expressive detours down slightly experimental routes. It could very well be, upon one or two listens, one of the more impressive and important albums of the 2020s and, as the decade progresses, the more true and real it feels.
Great discovery. Thematically strong, musically maybe a bit disjointed. But there are so many great songs and you can feel the love/anger/passion that went into making this.
Absolutely fantastic. I had never heard of Sault before today, but I had to listen to another couple of their albums right after this, it was so good. This album has such great execution, it sounds absolutely incredible, and the lyrics are hard hitting and well written.
Amazing project
This is very cool, a good idea done well. Faves: Wildfires is just incredible, Black Is, and Monsters
Never really been a fan of soul music but perhaps something might change after this.
Remember 2020? A lot of us would really rather not. The year was dominated by a global pandemic, rolling lock-downs, social distancing, face masks, and politicalization of vaccines. But that wasn't the only thing happening. 2020 was a massive year for the Black Lives Matter movement, with cities all over the US seeing demonstrations and demands to end systematic racism within police and justice systems. You couldn't ask for a better musical representation for that time than SAULT. There's anger and outrage of course, but SAULT were different from popular African American voices that came before them. Public Enemy were angry. Parliament envisioned a future where black people had achieved a level of equality where they got to be astronauts and politicians. What's different in "Untitled (Black Is)" are the feelings of hope, love, beauty and solidarity, that sit comfortably alongside justifiable outrage. The world is broken, but we're determined to change it. It's not merely dreaming, but taking to the streets and demanding a new world that is possible. It's just a fantastic album all the way through and it really captures the spirit of that movement, motivated by both justice and love.
2020. Soul, R&B, funk
A modern album I've actually heard before! Woohoo!
FUCK ME, I did not think that I was gonna like this as much as I did, but there's just this certain Something that gives these tracks a certain magic to 'em. Definitely deserves to be highly rated on this site, so why not add to that pile, eh? Solid 5 Stars, but right now, it's looking like 5.5.
It’s a 5, without hesitation. It does take a little bit for this album to really get going, but once it hits that point, it’s impossible to look back. It’s very easy to question this album’s inclusion in the book, given its recent status, but I’m so, so glad it’s here. I cannot believe I’ve never heard of this album. This escaped my radar in 2020, during the absolute height of the public visibility of the BLM movement & the George Floyd riots, and while this album feels tailormade for that moment, it still connected incredibly well for me in December of 2024. This is an album about black positivity, black excellence, and black affirmation. I am a half-Filipino, white-passing male. I fully acknowledge that I can’t ever fully relate to this album, or the black experience, but I can continue to listen and do my part to make this world a better place, and that includes lifting up albums like this that so deeply acknowledges what it is to be black, both in the positives & the negatives, and share a better understanding of that experience. This album’s messaging, mainly in the lyricism, but sometimes celebrated in the instrumentals themselves, is really well done. As far as the music itself goes, which is the core part of the album here, it’s usually pretty good – the biggest knock I can have on it is that there are a few tracks that overstay their repetitive parts, and while I sort of acknowledge the artistic merit to the repetition in the vocals, it does get a little grating, and a few tracks fell a little flatter because of it. My other knock is that the album really should’ve ended on “Miracles”, because the two tracks after that pale in comparison and don’t feel like a satisfying way to end the album. All of that said, I really can’t recommend this enough – no words I could type that gush over the lyrics, vocals, instrumentation & messaging could compare to listening to this album in full, and really, truly digesting it for what it is as a piece of art. If nothing else, the transition from “Us” into “Eternal Life” and the subsequent tracks that follow, all the way up until “Miracles” are truly, truly magical. That sequence, by itself, catapults this album right into a 5, but the whole thing is worth a listen, & this is very, VERY deserving to be on the list.
Tough album to really rate. Probably worth 5 stars, but not a particularly comfortable listen.
Para escuchar varias veces, algún tema para escuchar publicly
While I was never sure if I was listening to electronic, Afrobeats, or straight up Pop R&B... I liked it all. A really hidden gem.
Thief in the night Tell the truth White lives Spreading lies You should be ashamed The bloodshed on your hands Another man Take off your badge We all know it was murder Murder, murder Murder We are dying, it's the reason we are crying We are crying But we will never show fear Even in my eyes I will always rise In wildfires I ain't never been scared Even through my tears I will always care In wildfires But we will never show fear Even in my eyes I will always rise In wildfires Fucking A. This is a great album, and given what we in America just did in Nov 2024 (show that we are inherently a bunch of shitty racists) it should be celebrated now more than ever. To everyone rating this with 2 stars and saying you're "tired of black identity stuff" you can go fuck yourself all the way out the door.
I feel like ‘Untitled (Black Is)’ is more than just a music album. It is more of an art project that effortlessly blends R&B, soul, and funk in what is essentially an audio museum; embracing the culture, the struggle, the celebration, and future of black people and black culture. It’s a massive tracklist at 20 entries; mostly songs, but also spoken poetry interludes to lead from one track to the next. The lyrics are extremely direct, and the music is very low-fi; yet still grabs you by the shoulders and demands your attention. Rarely do you hear an album hit so many moods and atmospheres and still be a coherent piece. ‘Untitled (Black Is)’ is reflective, it is hopeful, it is wishful, it is somewhat angry, it is happy, and it is brutally observational. Musically it is incredibly multicultural, grabbing sounds and inspiration from the sounds of Africa and incorporating it wonderfully into western R&B sensibilities. I seem to say this a lot - but when it comes statement projects, such as this one, it’s very hard to apply a number to it; because I don’t believe the critical and commercial success of its release was on the mind of the artist while making it. They’re simply using the artistic medium of music as a platform to spread the message, rather than hoping that outlets like Rolling Stone or NME are going to drop it on their top lists of the relevant year. Regardless, ‘Untitled (Black Is)’, left a pretty hard impression on me. Not only is it enjoyable from a musical and production standpoint, but I also believe the topics are incredibly relevant today and an album like this is absolutely needed out in the world. Hell, it was needed years ago, too; and that’s the sad part of it all. It really is a beautiful art piece; and if you go into it with your expectations being set that it is more than just an album to arbitrarily judge, I think people of any culture can appreciate it on some level. 5/5
**Untitled (Black Is)** by the enigmatic collective **SAULT** is an album that stands as one of the most important artistic statements of 2020, capturing the heightened emotions of the Black Lives Matter movement and the broader fight for racial justice. With a release shrouded in mystery, typical of the collective’s modus operandi, the album’s combination of genres, messages, and styles has made it both timely and timeless. This review dissects the album’s core components: its lyrics, music, production, overarching themes, and influence, weighing the pros and cons along the way. ### **Lyrics** The lyrical content of *Untitled (Black Is)* is unapologetically bold and direct. The album's lyrics take a militant and empowering stance against racism and injustice while celebrating Black identity and resilience. SAULT’s songwriting is varied: at times reflective, at times confrontational, but always purposeful. Many tracks carry a conversational tone, almost as though SAULT is engaging listeners in a dialogue about the Black experience, both historically and in the present moment. On "Hard Life," the lyrics speak to the struggles faced by Black people due to systemic racism, calling out injustice in a straightforward yet poignant manner: *“It's a hard life / When they try to take your rights / It’s a hard life / When they lie in black and white.”* The blend of first-person and collective experiences in the lyrics adds to the universality of the message. *Untitled (Black Is)* doesn’t only point to pain but also emphasizes solidarity, resilience, and the need for collective action, as heard in *"Wildfires"* with the chorus, *“You should be ashamed / The bloodshed on your hands / Another man / Take off your badge / We all know it was murder.”* A recurring theme in the lyrics is one of defiance. On songs like *"Stop Dem"*, SAULT doesn’t merely suggest resistance but demands it, warning of the rising tide of unrest: *“You can’t stop us now.”* The directness of this message is underscored by the album’s refusal to mince words, reflecting the urgency of the moment. Yet, amid the activism, the lyrics also dwell on themes of self-love and empowerment. On tracks like *“Miracles,”* the lyrics veer into affirmations of beauty and strength in Blackness. The balancing act between lamenting societal failures and celebrating identity gives the album a nuanced emotional scope. **Pros:** - Lyrics are impactful, addressing themes of race, injustice, and empowerment with directness. - The balance between political commentary and personal reflections gives the album emotional depth. - SAULT’s use of simple yet evocative language makes the album accessible while still maintaining poetic richness. **Cons:** - The political nature of the lyrics, while powerful, might feel repetitive to some listeners as the themes recur throughout the album without a significant shift in tone. - The lack of individual song credits makes it difficult to attribute lyrical nuance to specific voices within the collective, making some songs feel less distinct lyrically. ### **Music** Musically, *Untitled (Black Is)* is a rich tapestry of genres, pulling from soul, gospel, funk, Afrobeat, jazz, R&B, and hip-hop. The instrumentation and arrangements feel deeply connected to the roots of Black music traditions, which underscores the album’s thematic exploration of Black identity and culture. The album opens with *"Out the Lies,"* which sets a solemn, meditative tone with its minimalist production and spoken-word delivery. The use of sparse, airy synths and quiet percussion enhances the weight of the words being delivered. This kind of subtlety in the arrangements pervades much of the album, allowing the lyrics to take center stage while still offering musically engaging backdrops. One of the standout musical features of *Untitled (Black Is)* is its use of rhythm. Tracks like *"Don't Shoot Guns Down"* and *"Bow*" incorporate percussive elements that are both hypnotic and rooted in African musical traditions. This rhythmic grounding serves as a reminder of the resilience embedded in the music, with polyrhythms and syncopated beats acting as musical metaphors for resistance. There are moments where the instrumentation swells and becomes more urgent, particularly on tracks like *"Wildfires"* and *"Monsters."* These tracks utilize sharp bass lines, crisp snares, and deep grooves, reflecting the tension inherent in the themes of the album. The mix of live instrumentation and programmed elements creates a dynamic soundscape that keeps the listener engaged, even when the tempo slows. Vocal harmonies are another key musical feature. In many tracks, gospel-inspired vocal arrangements underscore the messages of hope and unity. On *"Sorry Ain’t Enough,"* the layering of vocals gives the track a spiritual quality, blending with the minimalist instrumental arrangement to deliver an emotional punch. These harmonies help soften some of the harder-edged lyrical themes, offering moments of musical beauty amid the weighty subject matter. **Pros:** - The album excels in genre-blending, paying homage to Black music traditions while still sounding contemporary. - The rhythmic complexity and use of vocal harmonies add depth to the overall sound. - Minimalist yet impactful arrangements allow the lyrical content to remain at the forefront without compromising musical interest. **Cons:** - At times, the subtlety of the music might feel underwhelming for listeners seeking more dynamic or high-energy tracks. - Some listeners might find the lack of distinct musical peaks and valleys across the album to be a downside, as many tracks operate within a similar sonic range. ### **Production** The production of *Untitled (Black Is)* is deliberate, with a clear emphasis on creating a sound that is both intimate and expansive. The album’s stripped-back aesthetic is a hallmark of SAULT’s production style, allowing space for both the vocals and the messages to breathe. There is a sense of cohesion throughout the album’s 20 tracks, achieved by the consistency in the sound design. Much of the production focuses on creating mood rather than relying on traditional song structures. This is evident in tracks like *"Miracles"* and *"This Generation,"* where ambient textures and slow-building crescendos replace more conventional arrangements. The lo-fi, raw nature of the production gives the album an organic feel, as though it were crafted in real-time in response to the events of 2020. There’s a certain immediacy to the way the album sounds, reflective of the urgency of its themes. The use of distortion and effects, particularly on vocals, is also notable. Tracks like *"Stop Dem"* and *"Hard Life"* feature heavily processed vocals that add a layer of grit, mirroring the rawness of the lyrical content. However, these effects are used sparingly, ensuring that the vocal delivery remains impactful and not lost in the mix. Another aspect worth noting is the album’s pacing, which is carefully managed through the production. The transitions between tracks are smooth, often blurring the lines between songs and creating a seamless listening experience. This fluidity is essential to the album’s impact, as it demands to be heard in its entirety rather than in isolated parts. **Pros:** - The production is cohesive, enhancing the album’s thematic content without overwhelming the lyrical or musical elements. - The use of ambient textures and minimal arrangements creates a sense of immediacy and intimacy. - Smooth transitions between tracks make for a fluid, cohesive listening experience. **Cons:** - The understated production might feel repetitive or monotonous to some listeners, especially over the course of 20 tracks. - Some tracks feel like sketches rather than fully realized songs due to the minimalism in the production. ### **Themes** The overarching theme of *Untitled (Black Is)* is the celebration of Black identity in the face of oppression. The album is steeped in the ethos of resistance, hope, and community. At its core, *Untitled (Black Is)* is a protest album, but it’s also an album about love—love for oneself, love for one’s community, and love as a form of defiance. Racial injustice, systemic racism, and police violence are key thematic pillars. These are especially evident on tracks like *"Wildfires"* and *"Don't Shoot Guns Down,"* which address the trauma inflicted on Black communities. Yet the album is not purely rooted in despair; it’s also an affirmation of Black beauty and resilience, as showcased on tracks like *"Miracles"* and *"Monsters."* There is also a spiritual element to the album’s themes, with several songs invoking religious or quasi-religious language and imagery. *"Pray Up Stay Up"* and *"This Generation"* draw on gospel traditions, framing resistance as a form of spiritual practice. This fusion of the political and the spiritual gives the album an added dimension, framing the fight for justice as a moral imperative. **Pros:** - The album’s themes are timely and relevant, providing a powerful commentary on racial injustice. - The balance between political protest and personal affirmation adds emotional complexity to the album. - Spiritual and religious undertones enrich the thematic scope, adding depth to the call for justice. **Cons:** - Some listeners might find the thematic focus narrow, as the album’s messages of resistance and empowerment dominate throughout without much thematic deviation. - The directness of the messaging leaves little room for interpretation, which might feel limiting for those seeking more subtle or abstract reflections. ### **Influence** *Untitled (Black Is)* has had a profound impact, both within the music industry and beyond. Released during a time of global protests against racial injustice, the album quickly became a soundtrack for the movement. Its combination of activism and artistry speaks to a long tradition of protest music within Black music history, drawing comparisons to artists like Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Fela Kuti. While the album itself is deeply rooted in Black musical traditions, its influence extends beyond genre. The album’s success has helped bring greater attention to SAULT’s brand of anonymous, collective music-making, challenging conventional ideas about the role of the artist in the public eye. **Pros:** - The album’s influence on the cultural landscape, particularly within the context of 2020’s racial justice movements, is undeniable. - *Untitled (Black Is)* stands as an important contribution to the tradition of Black protest music, connecting past and present struggles. **Cons:** - While the album has certainly influenced political and musical discussions, its anonymity and lack of individual recognition may limit its lasting impact on the broader music industry. ### **Conclusion** In conclusion, *Untitled (Black Is)* by SAULT is a bold, urgent, and powerful artistic statement. Its strengths lie in its unapologetic lyrical content, genre-blending music, and cohesive production, all of which serve to amplify its thematic focus on Black identity, resistance, and resilience. While the album’s directness and minimalism may not appeal to all listeners, it is undoubtedly one of the most important albums of its time, reflecting the struggles and triumphs of Black life in the 21st century. **Pros:** - Lyrically impactful, addressing relevant and urgent social issues. - Musically diverse, drawing on various Black musical traditions. - Cohesive production that enhances the emotional and political weight of the album. **Cons:** - Some listeners may find the album’s repetitiveness and lack of dynamic shifts limiting. - The collective’s anonymity may detract from individual moments of lyrical or musical brilliance.
A great mix of lyricism and instrumentals that details a life and existence I couldnt possibly fathom. Hints of funk and gospel, it runs through several different sounds and hits all the marks. Simply put, a beautiful album with a strong message.
Fired this one up on a road trip “What kind of album is it?” My wife asked “I don’t know” Literally 5 seconds into the album “It’s an album about black excellence”
When this album came out, it immediately grabbed me. It's beautiful, accessible, variable, fragmentary, yet very coherent. The production is excellent and it is stuffed with nice and subtle sounds. A couple of years later I'm still deeply impressed.
Take some time to fully get into this record. But it was worth it, lots of beautifully crafted songs, different styles, great voices and stylish. Definitely a new favorite.
Very good. Perfect even, sunlight in one of my most cloudiest days and nights. Thank you, 9.8/10.
9/10 Have heard this before, but forgot just how good it is. Amazing stuff. Sounds both classic and forward-looking at the same. Loads of soul, R&B, funk, African influences with a modern eye. Music and production is elite. Vocals are great, lyrics are on-point. Sounds like a classic American album but it is British. Really gets the point and politics though. Second half is absolutely perfect. Best: Eternal Life
The album has the advantage of being relatively recent, but it felt incredibly fresh and unique compared to some of the recent albums
I had to give it a few listens to appreciate it. And it hold up!
The historical importance of this album outlining the black lives matter protests its reflected really clearly, but taking this album out of context it still slaps. The vocals are beautiful and the drummer is cracked. With and without background this album is really really beautiful.
Exceptional.
I freaking loved this. the soulfulness, the beat, the funk, the samples. 60-70s gospel music is one of my favorite genres and this has a similar message. Adding the whole thing
A very powerful album signifying the importance of strength through unity. The album focuses on the theme of racism, and was released shortly after the death of George Floyd. SAULT released the album initially for free with all proceeds from subsequent sales going to charity. They released a second album, "Untitled (Rise)", 13 weeks later which continued the theme of this album. SAULT are known as a "music collective" moreso than a band. Their style could be called neo-soul with electronic/house influences. There are elements of R&B, jazz, funk, electronica, and soul in this music. It is a harmony of so many different styles that it is hard to nail down. Part of the beauty of this album though is the fact that so many genres and styles of music can come together to speak out in unity about systemic racism and police brutality. Favourite songs: Bow, Wildfires, Don't Shoot Guns Down, Eternal Life Least favourite songs: June Child 5/5
4.75
Я необъективен, я эту группу давно уже заприметил. Потому что из той же тусовки ребята, что и мой любимчик Киванука. Альбом очень мрачный. Я понимаю, контекст, да, очень серьёзная тема и не менее серьёзный повод. Политическое высказывание, по своей сути. Но вот есть там пара светлых пятен, которые его "оживляют", помогают всё-таки справится с этим тяжёлым фоном. Вот они этот альбом даже в какой-то степени тянут. А так... я готов был почти сразу пятёрку влепить. Но это 5-, потому что музыкально я наверное не так сильно кайфанул, как от того же Кивануки. Но за концептуальную работу с африканскими темами - жирный плюс.
Wow, I fear I don’t have the bandwidth today to fully explain my thoughts on this album. It mocks the entire prospect of giving a numerical score to an album. It retains the warmth and musicality of Robert Glasper (a fav of mine in college) and squeezes it into something even more direct and straightforward. It delivers a message on first listen while remaining endlessly listenable. Beautifully mutable music that can mean different things to different people at different times. This lives up to the title of something every music lover should hear before they die. Reading about the mysterious nature of the collective and their obvious dedication to the project was inspiring. Wildfires is probably the best song I’ve heard on here in weeks.
Not my usual genre but I think this is rather good. Surprised it was 2020 - felt 90s in a great way
3.8 Nice addition to the list. Never heard of the collective before. Listened to a couple of their albums today, kinda diggin it.
An impressive output which dilutes how good these are. They’ve delivered so much of late hard to absorb however rated this album and the first bought from these. Wildfires 4.3/5
Cool stuff, lot of interesting ideas. Was impressed.
This was a very very solid representation of pride, this 1000% deserves to be listened to by everyone. Amazing songs to fill too.
Had low expectation for this, but it's been an absolute joy, Truly fantastic. They have a mellow vibe along with superb singing.i could just relax and listen for a long long time. Definitely a band to explore
I love Inflo's production, I became a fan of this through Little Simz albums, soon realized he also produced Michael Kiwanuka, Cleo Sol, many others, as well as being the main driving force of SAULT. It's truely hard to keep up or remember their discography apart from clear standout songs because of the titles and secrecy of their output, but their talent and beauty of their music is undeniable. I could've gone with this or 4 other albums to be considered for this list, Five, Seven, Acts of Faith and Ten are sensational albums, but this is the most theatrical and the album experience is exceptional. Wildfires is incredible, love the ambiance of Don't Shoot Guns Down, Sorry Ain't Enough is great, Bow, Monsters is great. I hope he mends his relationship with Simbi to continue collaborating because their music is the best both have ever created. Great inclusion.
Wow, I had no idea what to expect from this but this was an incredibly engaging listen, and as someone who doesn’t always focus on lyrical content, I have to say it was hard to miss the clear themes on display. A 2020 album that fits into the genres of R&B, Funk and Soul probably isn’t going to be up my street but musically, this was as engaging as the powerful messages. Very disappointing to read some of the negative reviews on the site about this album focused on racial issues but then perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. Stop Dem really caught my attention early on, but this was full of great tracks including Don’t Shoot Guns Down, Bow (feat. Michael Kiwanuka, who I’ve come to really like), and Pray Up Stay Up. I’ve also very recently shortlisted their new album to listen to based on it being recommended as one of the albums of the year so far, so this is very timely.
An unexpected inclusion, but not one that doesn't merit it's place. It's a very powerful tracklist focused on themes of race, politics, and violence. I got a lot from this album and would be interested to hear more from the SAULT discography. Favourites: Sorry Ain't Enough Bow Monsters
Ok
This one was hard to place, as there are elements I loved and others I tired of simply because my taste has started to float away from repetitive beats and vocal samples (maybe this was too soon after Fatboy Slim?) I do sort of agree with the other reviews on this one though; for an album releasing at the moment in time that it did with the Black Lives Matter, you would have thought that a wider range of emotion would have been on display. That said, not everything is delivery in lyrics, with lyrics themselves contrasted with a beautiful and calm voice sometimes creates that juxtaposition that hits even harder; tracks like "Hard Life" and "Wildfires" were absolutely stunning and I'm glad I learnt of them, they are going straight to my playlists. Both of these had some Fugees energy to them, as did "Sorry Ain't Enough". Favourite tracks, for not only beautiful vocals but also for more soulful/less repetitive musical arrangements: "Hard Life", "Don't Shoot Guns Down", "Wildfires", "Sorry Ain't Enough" (instrumental on this one went in every direction I wanted it to making it deeply satisfying), "Why We Cry Why We Die", "Eternal Life", "Monsters", "Hold Me", ... I notice that all the female led tracks are the greatest ones for me! ..."Black" was a rather frustrating one, because it had a lot of interesting arrangements and was interrupted by the the female vocals with the lounge tune backing it which was gorgeous. I just wish we heard some bars on what it means to be Black, pride in heritage or the struggles faced... just a little something more than 'I'm Black'. Maybe what I am asking would have been too predictable. Overall, a good album with some good ideas, but I felt like they could have taken more risks on displaying some of that emotion that comes with wanting to get a message of change across. I possibly wouldn't have felt so strongly about this, had it released now in 2026 or even some 5-6 years before it actually did.
They have a lovely sound - focused album
SAULT getting a low 4 from me, it’s a bit overlong but I like basically all the ground it covers lyrically and musically and a few of the tracks are just lush
This is a good album. British R&B with Afrofuturist and hip-hop elements sliding in. The soundscape is kind of understated and impressionistic. The subject matter feels very 2020. Back when we thought we thought the struggle against racism was to challenge ingrained structural racism and unconscious personal biases and naively thought we could see positive change. In 2026, though, the racists are on the streets in Britain and the liberals and the left are in an existential battle. For this project (listening to 1001 Albums) there's an issue with latter albums in that there hasn't been the time between release and publication of the book to see how an album stands the test of time. Sault definitely deserve a spot in the 1001 Albums to hear before you die. They've had an impact on the contemporary music scene in the UK and the Modern Black British experience is a welcome inclusion in the culture breadth of the project. However, the band are very prolific, 13 albums since 2019) and is this the album that will stand out as their definitive recording? I'm not so sure!
This is an awesome album, super powerful and super chill! I also love their album covers and names; beautiful! I'm glad I found this album, and when I get a little more time (when I'm caught up on my album challenge) I'm definitely coming back!
New to me and what a great find! I loved this album, super interesting and powerful. Good vibes.
7/10
Soul, R&B, funk.
Review of the comments: A lot of privilege and bigotry going on in these reviews... Some of you are fucking disgusting. Don't be surprised when your adult children don't let you see your grandchildren. - a middle-aged white dude Review of the album: Never heard of this group before today, and I'll definitely be digging further into their catalog. I'm a sucker for downtempo electronic, so that was a big plus, right off the bat. Also appreciated were the reggae-styled bass on the occasional track, and the afrobeat influence on others. I don't know that this is something I'd spin on a regular basis, but certainly as an artwork, I am impressed. Maybe like looking at The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch: I don't think I'd hang it in my house, but I'd stop at it for an hour every time I was at the museum. Or maybe even go to the museum once a year to see it. As I was agonizing over the writing of that last paragraph, I changed my mind while a couple other songs played. I'd hang this in my house. And I'm definitely checking out the artist further. Thanks, 1001 Albums! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Interesting album.
Stop Dem // Hard Life // Wildfires // 3.5/5
very good, very ambitious, very 2020
8/10… neo soul / indie r&b / *2020
A fun blend of electronic music, world music, hip hop and others. Also nice to have an album made within the last 6 years, with modern production quality.
I really liked the mood of this album. It’s serious, but positive and encouraging. It has this minimalist electronica, trip-hop, afrobeat sound going on, which I find very appealing. 3.5-4
I liked this a lot when it was released. It's been a little while since I've given the whole album a play though. Listening again, it kind of makes sense. There are some great moments. Wildfires in particular, but it doesn't quite get to great territory. A sold four.
Loved some of the songs
I had no idea what to expect but this is great. Loving the generally chilled out vibe. The spoken word interludes work and it all flows nicely. Yes it’s pretty low key but everything does not have to be in your face. A nice find from the generator
Giving this a 1 or 2 is crazy. At worst, this album is just fine. I loved it though. Could definitely see myself throwing it on again. Favorite Songs: Stop Dem, Bow, Monsters, Miracles, Hold Me
Some great tracks on this one and I had not heard them. These are the gems I keep listening for
Fav songs: Out the Lies and Bow
I've never listened to this group before, this was great. Really interesting history as well, they're very prolific - i'm going to dip into some of their other albums soon!
A beautiful celebration of blackness. I don't fully understand the "perfect album" hype though. 7/10
a good album written in direct immediate response to the murder of george floyd. this is the primary context of the album, which to me is both a boon and a bane, as it feels impossible to interpret it outside of that. far as i can tell, unless they added previously-unreleased tracks, it was produced in a few weeks afterwards to hit the juneteeth release. there's a rawness to that. there's an outpouring of grief, of pain, of hope, of empowerment, of desire for change, etc. to me, it's definitely felt. much of it that doesn't quite land for me (namely, the more spiritual and religious parts), but the intensity is felt. at the same time, to me this rawness entails a level of unrefinement that is noticeable to my ear in a way that makes this whole album feel underbaked. an hour in length, but not an hour well utilized or full, so it leaves me feeling a bit mixed.
Excellent album -!love the grooves
3.5
Sobresale mucho en el gospel y música electrónica, con ese afrobeat que cierra la pinza. Especial mención a la rola con kiwanuka “Bow” y “Monsters”. Es un disco que exalta la cultura negra y Africana, a la cual no soy parte, por lo que no creo poder nunca entenderlo en su totalidad. Sin embargo, pasé un gran momento escuchando el álbum.
7.5/10
Buen album, variado, relajante y pegajoso según la canción
I took on this challenge not so much to find new things I've never heard but to reconnect with some classic albums I had known but fell off my radar. I've listened to a bunch of pitchfork top lists, rolling Stones top 500 albums and similar styled lists. So usually when something comes up I've never heard of or totally forgot it's brand new and pretty outside the standard lists . And honestly I think those can be pretty rough. But this. Was. Great. Socially and politically conscious dance music? Sign me up
4 - Another album that deeply surprised me. After reading about it too and the time it came out and the fact that the group is mostly anonymous but making these interesting and complex afrobeat/disco/r&b made me respect and admire this album so so much. Fav songs: Hard Life // Don't Shoot Guns Down // Wildfires // Bow // Monsters
I think this is a great album with a strong message.
A groovy feel from front to back with a message behind it. I'm down
Definitely not the target audience, but enjoyed this as the art piece it is.
Solid!
Never heard of this group but this album was pretty cool - really varied and despite being long it didn't feel that long.
Come on Frank! Wasteland!? Lot to like these days. I present Sault. This album checked a lot of boxes for me in terms of style and genre, lot of obvious influences that I also love. Michael Kiwanuka makes an appearance and there’s a stark difference between what he did on the album we reviewed and this, and I think it’s keeping an edge and not neutering every track. Thinking about a lot of those neo soul acts. The lyrics and themes are pretty vague and cliched at times, but when you’re singing about something as simple a racism I think you have the right to speak in simple terms. Don’t shoot me you racist fuck!! No need to get too philosophical about it. I also place a lot less importance on lyrics relative to the actual music. I think of good lyrics as a bonus or a requirement to send a song to another level. Great find! Thanks list!
I think this might be my new favourite 2020s album. It plays like a sound collage of jazz, soul and so many influences. It’s great.
Well, twist my arm! I’ll listen to dollar store TPAB any day. So this album, “Untitled (Black Is),” is a celebration of Black identity, that much is clear. It’s from 2020 so obviously it’s VERY politically conscious, and it’s got some nice vibes! The problem? Nothing stands out. I’ve listened to many a musical celebration of Black identity, from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (the best soul album of all time, as well as the best hip-hop album of all time, argue with a wall) to To Pimp A Butterfly itself (you know it. If you don’t, you’ve been living under a rock and it’s time to accept that) to Black Messiah, and honestly D’Angelo’s entire career. I don’t intend to pit different celebrations of Black culture against each other, especially as someone who IS NOT BLACK, but when you draw the comparisons between those albums and “Untitled,” the quality of the latter is evidently lower. The big problem is that a lot of the time the album just repeats mantras, which certainly creates a vibe, and I can surmise the intent behind all of the songs without passing it off as merely pleasant background noise, but I can’t quite justify it as the transcendent piece of art that it obviously wants to be. Certainly it’s beautiful, and rousing at times (especially on the album’s best interlude, “Us”). At the end of the day it’s pretty good, even if too inoffensive for how political it’s trying to be. 7.9/20
Solid album. I appreciate the minimalism
Album Review 098 Untitled (Black Is) by Sault (2020) Rating: 4/5 This album is more important as a statement than as a collection of songs. Released during the 2020 BLM protests and the height of the pandemic, it is a message of solidarity and Black pride. In an ideal world, saying "Black Lives Matter" and taking the knee shouldn’t be needed but sadly, this record and the reaction to BLM shows we aren't there and why we needed this album. The core of the album is the partnership between producer Inflo and singer Cleo Sol. Their chemistry is obvious, especially on Wildfires, which is probably the most important soul track of the 21st century. The only issue is that the album feels too long. At 20 tracks, the message and the strenths of the better song gets diluted a bit. If they had cut the filler, this would be a 5/5 and one of the best albums of the 2020s. Between the chaos of COVID-19 and Sault releasing Untitled (Rise) so quickly after, the impact of this Black Is felt a bit crowded out and maybe didn’t get the attention it deserved at the time.
Wildfires
It’s good to get a more recent album on the list. Wildfires was best song. Others : Bow , Eternal Life,Miracles, Hold me. A lot of interlude type songs. Had a super minimal lofi vibe throughout which is cool. I think some more of dynamic moments would’ve been cool too.
As a disclaimer, I am not black, and I'm not from the United Kingdom, so I'm not part of the target audience. With that being said, I can appreciate music that isn't geared towards me, and after scrolling through the reviews, I see some white fragility. Look, this entire album was recorded at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, particularly after the disturbing murder of George Floyd. You don't have to like the album, but at least "get it"; people were in an arbitrary lockdown, and watched a police officer commit racially charged murder. Can you blame black artists for recording this album? What the hell else was there to do, and better yet, why not discuss the issues we've been sweeping under the rug? This is essentially the British version of Public Enemy, except less angry. For what it was, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it reminded me of a 2000s hip-hop album. Favorite Track: "Pray Up Stay Up".
Quite good.
I listened to this thrice. Rating higher because of unique sound.
This is a brilliant and timely project that I was lucky enough to get turned onto in the year it came out - 2020, the year of the George Floyd uprisings in the U.S. This album is a gorgeous exploration of what it is to be Black, the culture, the history, the artistry, the struggles and self-perceptions. It’s empowering. It’s close to a 5 but is brought down by a lack of editing - at nearly an hour, so much was thrown in to this record that there are some dud periods that sadly detract from the many gems. Very high 4
Powerful lyrical narrative that is still very relevant. Music is great too
i rly roll my eyes when white ppl respond to art about black life and black politics with a self-shielding abdication of responsibility to form an opinion on it (the classic "its not for me but its an Important Message", with more or less sympathetic variants), but in the case of this record i kind of get it because it goes out of its way at several points to make it clear that it is Not made with a white audience in mind, and is intended to be a positive and healing record specifically for black people in a world of antiblackness. as such, my articulation ab how i feel ab this record does make me a little self-conscious...theres a lot of prosaic Directness across this record that i cant help but feel like dilutes the experience a little, and im not rly gonna try to speculate whether that effect would be more or less tolerable were i not white. i will just say that given that this is unambiguously for a black audience, i feel like the parts that verge on black politics 101 (some of the spoken word affirmation parts are nice, others feel rote), or that overly clarify something that should be immediately understood (the track Don't Shoot Guns Down loses a lot of its haunting effect the moment they say Racist Policeman out loud), are pretty weird. when you sacrifice subtlety , you should be getting some kind of visceral power in return, and some of the anthemic attempts here mishandle that imo. still, the music itself is absolutely stellar...some Theres A Riot Going On murky colors realized with a palate of sounds and vocal effects and arrangement ideas that are cohesive but so expressive that the record can vividly transform before your eyes track to track...far from sly stone's coked-out numbness, its such a lush and rich and uplifting sound, and the tracklist that seems bloated from a distance becomes a really engrossing suite. i probably need to seek out more albums by sault just to see where else their musical ideas go. and despite my objections, its still a very emotive and soulful record...its ability to create material of such Inherent power only makes its over-disambiguations more disappointing. but far from ruinous either. (some of these reviews are fucking awful dude. white people will step over as many black corpses as they need just to stop feeling mildly uncomfortable)
I enjoyed this one. Sat and listened to it twice. 4 stars
This one may very well grow on me. Most of the aspects of contemporary R&B that bug me are dialed back, and I find the dirtier grooves and soundscapes of tracks like “Stop Dem”, “Sorry Ain’t Enough”, “Bow”, and “Black” lend nicely to the record’s thematic content. High 3.5 for now, but I’m excited to keep revisiting. 3.5/5
I liked this album. Wildfires is a stand out track. Good background music, play through quality. It has some musical variety and no real low points. 3.6
I was in the groove with this one.
Yea it’s pretty good. Very politically charged which I like. Theres also little bits of poetry throughout the album which i found interesting. 7.2/10
3,5 eigenlijk
Wow I did not expect this album to sound like this AT ALL. Based off the cover art I thought it’d be like a haunting and artsy fartsy work of art like most of Lingua Ignota’s work, where you can see the work and craftsmanship that went into the album buts it is so naturally depressing to listen to both in tone and subject matter. But I was very very pleasantly surprised that while it is serious and mature in its subject matter, it has sort of funk to it that keeps it from being too dry. Seriously the song “wildfires” might be an all time classic, it’s so smooth and amazing! Not to mention all the other songs I loved like “Stop Dem”, “Hard Life”, “sorry ain’t enough”, “black”, and “monsters”. That being said I do have to admit that of the 20 songs I only really loved those 6 songs I mentioned, while the other songs were pretty forgettable filler, they weren’t offensively out of place or bad. They were just kinda there to fill out the album. But I don’t think you should look at an album and be like “well I only saved 6 of 20 songs, must mean I don’t really care for it” because those 6 songs are not just good songs, they are EXCELLENT songs. Strong enough individually to hold up their own albums, I really mean it. The things on this album that don’t work get completely overshadowed (in a good way) by the things that do work cause they basically carry the whole album for me. (Also small side note, I didn’t mention it cause I forgot about it when I was writing this review but I re-listened to the album real quick before posting my review to make sure I didn’t miss anything and I just want to add that miracles is also an amazing song and it’s actually really comforting, like next time I’m having negative intrusive thoughts, I’m gunna listen to that song, it nicely puts things in perspective for me).
Very Black Power 2020. This is angry, hopeful, fun, artistic, challenging in a way that really captures the summer of 2020. Unfortunately the reaction to that summer really sucks and Trump and his ICE goons can gag on some cocks.
really good
V much enjoyed this, it’s cool, the message is strong and the music is slick, well produced and just great. Never listened to SAULT before, but definitely will be doing so again. 4.3/5.0 Best Song: Bow
A nice listen, I had never heard it before but thoroughly enjoyed it. Very chilled music but obviously an important album and message. Best Track: Bow
Random thoughts: * I had actually listened to Sault before because of the buzz a few years ago. I actually really like this even more on this listen. * It has all the cool of Black Pumas and other similar groups but is also clearly lined with Black pride. * This album should be played more often by me. I need to add this to my rotation to listen more frequently. * I ended up listening to this one back-to-back twice straight through. * More thoughts on this one after I let it soak in a few more times.
This is a cool album - socially conscious but not overwhelmingly aggressive. Very easy to listen to with some novel, catchy hooks. V nice
Magically and important
Forward with its messaging and spirit, this album allows the musicians the space to explore and develop their message, using inspirations from other genres and sounds familiar but ever relevant.
Enjoyed this.
I was pleasant surprised by this album.. the have quite a string message but at the same time are nice to listen to 4/5
Hell of a good record, weaving in and out of genres while keeping a through-line of blackness and black music. It maintains intimacy and sparseness throughout, a real feat for an aBlum like this. Its real downside is the length; it just outweighs its welcome a little too long. But this is a vibes-based concept album with a lot to love and pulled me in fully on this really cool collective.
Fantastic. Listened to it and only it all day.
Really dope album! Exactly the kind of album I needed for inspiration
Tengo que volver a escucharlo, pero me ha encantado. Una mezcla entre Can, Portishhead y Lauren Hill. Me he guardado "Hard Life" (Cover, Michael Kiwanuka, and Nikolic), "Don't Shoot Guns Down" (Cover and Nikolic), Sorry Ain't Enough" (Cover and Nikolic) y "Bow" (Cover and Kiwanuka), pero supongo que cuando lo vuelva a oír añadiré más. Todo un descubrimiento.
The racist reviews here are wild. This is a cool album. Amazing production that feels a little like Kanye without the fascism.
Very interesting. I didn't get into the music after several songs, but I ended regretting that it was over. I like much more somber songs than others, but the ones I liked are great.
Cool, but I’ve been listening to Chapter 1 a lot lately and I reckon that one’s better. On its on this one is good.
Some absolutely wretched reviews of this have clearly had a lot of upvotes. The actual album is pretty decent, not mind blowing, but I naturally want to score it higher so I'm not associated with those people.
Very mellow r&b with a relevant mesage and ode to black culture. Well produced, varied enough in its execution and appropriate for those who want to chill and those who want to get inspired by social commentary alike.
I had a phase last year when i couldnt stop listening to a few songs by sault, im not sure ive ever listened to this album through fully so im glad to be reminded
Perhaps not their strongest outing but found lots of gems I hadn't heard before (Hard Life, Monsters, Miracles.) The interludes were a bit much but otherwise solid r&b/gospel/message music.
i i didn’t expect to be so impressed by this album 8/10
Pretty cool. Instrumentals were exciting and the lyrics were powerful.
Wow, I was really impressed. Never heard of the band or album, but will look out for more. The clarity of the drums was something I loved. But mostly this was a hit for me in its eclectic range, musicality, humanity, political awareness. But upbeat and authentic. While it all worked together and rewarded listening not absolutely every track stood out but some really did.
Häftig atmosfär, sparsmakade men effektiva beats.
Riktigt spännande upptäckt och exempel på vad det här projektet kan ge.
Heck yeah!
Great r&b album and more will definitely check out more by them.
The Apple Music description says it is more of a DJ set...I agree. I like this one. It moves through the territory with a strong vibe, telling a story.
toller sound, R&B wie es sein soll.
very very good
My last album was a slog about an extraterrestrial time travelling murderous gynecologist. I feel SAULT have somehow made something even less subtle here. Loving the nod to songhoy blues. There's some love put into this craftwork. I wonder if this album fixed racism. *checks the news* Ah. Christ.
Never heard of the album or artist- I will be looking for more
This was a really solid pick. It's old school Motown R&B sounds with contemporary production and sensibilities. I'm 100% not the audience for this album. From the first listen it can feel a bit heavy handed in it's lyrical content without really driving home its point. Lyrics, though, have never been a priority in my musical tastes. So I'm not as bothered as some reviewers. But I really enjoyed it. It won't go into my normal rotation, but I'll definitely want to give it another listen or three. I feel it's one of those albums that gets better after successive listens. 4 star
Decent
I really like their sound and concept of the album and I want to give it more time to digest for what it is. Also didn’t know that the lead singer was Cleo Sol so it was really cool to see her release music in a different name with a producer to create this sound.
Pretty good album.
Rhythm that is otherworldly, lyrics that shine a light on your heart and spicy instrumentation that connects you to a depth in the music
Favorite Track: Wildfires
This was unexpectedly cool. I’m not usually big on R&B but this wasn’t your typical R&B. I’m talking like Usher, Ne-Yo, you know like sexy pop music. This was closer to instrumental hip hop and I dig it. For me it’s a very high three but it’s close enough that I’m giving it a four.
Extra points needed here. I enjoyed it. 4.4.
I enjoyed it, but it seemed to drag a bit at the end. Adding a star on my rating to counteract some of the ridiculousness here. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 4/5
Pivotal album, with some gorgeous music and important messages.
Man, the state of some of the reviews here... Loved this album at the time, but haven't listened to the whole thing through for a while. It's such a good vibe, with some standout tracks (not least Wildfires). 4.5*
kawanuki won’t appear on the bad album 4.5
3.5
3.5
I really enjoyed this one quite a bit and I think a lot of it is that even though it is modern R&B it does rely heavily on some '70s Funk beats and '90s R&B stylizations. I even for the most part like the blend of electronica ideas throughout the album, but there were points of it where some of the repetitiveness did get anoying, but that really only happened to me on a couple of tracks . For the most part I thoroughly enjoyed this album if it were a bit shorter I might even have it on the verge of a four and a half but I think it is a solid four (8.45) ★★★★
Cool contemporary R&B, with good singing. 4 srars
Honestly a very good album that strays outside of convention, takes risks, and is still a very enjoyable listen
I love an album that feels like listening to a film. So much heart and soul and feeling
delicately balanced crisp afro funk and spoken word mixed with a little jazz and 90's hip hop beats.
Unusual and interesting
This Generation needs to listen to this. It will start the Wildfires of revolution.
I'd heard of Cleo Sol, but I hadn't heard of Sault or this album. Unlike some reviewers(!) I have no problem with the fact that they chose to release this, in this style, at that moment. I mean, how dare musical artists express how they feel about a horrific, symptomatic event in a manner of their own choosing 🙄 I thought it was compelling, powerful and cool. And, seriously funky in places. It definitely deserves to be heard; in fact, the only thing that made me cross was that I hadn't heard of it.
7/10
Nice R&B
Would have been a great 35 minute album if they had left off all the filler. Favorite song: monsters
Super high instrumental skill, smooth, groovy, insane production. Big sweeping survey of the different aspects of being black with both optimism and real darkness. This slaps. The vocals from cleo sol are disarming, both vulnerable.childlike but have this huge gospel quality. Big fusion of different communities from London shows up here
(4) some of the interludes were a bit naff but i liked it the proper songs!
Loved this. Totally different from anything I've heard from the generator so far. Mysterious. Sexy. Political. Amorphous. Grounded in the Black experience yet also feels like it could have been written by space aliens. I had encountered songs from the group on playlists before but didn't get what they were really about until listening through a whole album. Looking forward to further exploration of their mysteries.
Probably won't come back to it too often, but a really creative and well produced album.
Thought this was great. 👍
Nice little surprise this one. It just feels so refreshingly different from the prevalent rock vibe on this list. It flows really well as an album and just has a really dreamlike and warm quality to it that draws you in. Personally I preferred the more Afro-beat/electoronica/hip hop tracks over the R&B/soul stuff. Stop Dem and Monsters the highlights. Will have to check more, albeit slightly confused they seem to have released 6 albums in 2022! Back to Elvis Costello it is tomorrow then [sighs].
I absolutely love the meaning behind this album, and find it pretty empowering on it's surface. Sonically, I can't say it is particularly well-sequenced, nor do many of the tracks (especially later in the album) add much to the experience. However the beauty of some of the tracks in tandem with the overall meaning elevate it a bit. 3.5/5 - 4/5
GOSTEI Demais
I tried, didn't get the hype really. "I'm tired of incessant racial propaganda" - exclusively likes white artists. Shot man.
Very interesting listen today, made even more interesting by the fact that I just listened to Massive Attack yesterday! I knew the spoken word stuff would be lost on a lot of people, and the reviews on this site did not disappoint. There's a lot of interesting stuff being done throughout this album. Handing the narrative back and forth between spoken word poetry and musical motifs. I know essentially nothing about SAULT as I'm writing this review, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I could see how this album would rub a lot of people the wrong day. It's very un-apoligetically black, it goes against what every suburban white gen x through gen z was taught. It's impolite to talk about race! It really makes me wonder about the backgrounds of the musicians involved. This could totally come off as vapid if some industry plant millionaire kid was the one making it. Moving on to the lyricism, it's not even being subtle in the messaging here. Wild that people are upset about how point blank and on the nose these lyrics are, when an entire songs lyrics are saying "you didn't listen when we tried to tell you before." As far as the music goes, I preferred the tracks like Monsters and Us, with a pretty sweet synth going. That said, there is a surprising diversity of sound on this album. To those of you that disagree, consider a cheesemonger. They could tell you the difference in regions and varietals of 15 types of cheddar. The subtle taste differences. What goes into making it, how the cows diet effects it, etc. But to some of you, its all just cheese. If your scope is limited, your understanding will be limited as well.
Ignore the naysayers. This is a great album. I enjoy the minimalism and interesting touches.
Pretty extraordinary. Part trip hop, part spoken-word poetry, entirely beautiful. This almost leaves the realm of music and feels more like an art installation -- it isn't so much necessary listening for music's sake as it is for culture's sake. A touching and thought provoking contribution to the BLM movement in 2020. Really beautiful.
Wow, an album from the 2020s, that's a first! Overall, pretty great album. With slam poetry mixed with other songs, I feel calm. I will say at the beginning with Out the Lies, the quality at the beginning made me think instead of them shouting "Out the Lies", I heard "Ultra Lord" and I haven't been exposed to Jimmy Newtron in a long time 😂
So refreshing compared to the majority of Dad Rock on this list!
Cool experimental triphoppy r&b with some beautiful melodic passages.
Never heard of this artist. Interested to see what they sound like. Reading they are R&B. really hate to say this but sounds like something Kanye West would sample. Pretty cool stuff. I dig these first couple tracks
Soulful protest songs will have to look up the main singer really good voice
A higher 4 than the Violent Femmes album
Tossing up between a 3 and 4 but probably just a 4 from me. Some cool sounds and tunes and I like the singer's voice a lot. Some filler too.
Banger. Really liked this one, great grooves and tight interludes
Albums like this are why I started doing this list. I've never heard of this group and had no idea what to expect, you always hope it's going to be good and... it turns out this is some really great music. Smooth laid back grooves and vocals that flow into each other. There is just a fantastic vibe about the whole thing. Fantastic album.
Great black pride celebration album. Would listen again.
What a throwback to the mid-pandemic 2020's. An expression of black culture after the Floyd killing, this album has a varied style that I quite enjoyed, with "Wildfire" being the best song by far, but there are a few other songs that I really enjoyed. There are some that I didn't particularly enjoy, but they don't stay long enough to detract from the album. I do believe that your culture and life experiences would greatly impact your view on this album, and being white, I don't feel the same impact on this record that someone else might. However, I do respect the work, and thus, I believe this is a solid 4/5.
This is a solid album with plenty of soul and a generous helping of funk. Not sure I'll listen again, but it's undoubtedly a well written and produced album. Might venture into the rest of their discography.
Very cool album Standout songs: Wild fires Bow Monsters
I'm assuming this isn't Sault's (from Sault n Peppa) solo career. In fact I was very surprised to discover Sault are British. It feels extremely American. The vocal intermissions are a lot like The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. They lose a bit of impact by the end, sounding like a self-help tape (you are a tiger). Musically, the album melds lounge rnb, jazz, soul and afrobeat and it does it well. Oftentimes it recalls Funkadelic, especially 'Stop Dem' which is a delicious extraterrestrial groove. Some of the album comprises loose sketches, that feel underdeveloped, albeit in keeping with the overall ambience. 'Why We Cry Why We Die' and 'Sorry Ain't Enough' have nice mood but are a bit too close to characterless nu-soul. But overall, an excellent album flitting between jam-like grooves and classic soul sounds to create something that feels original and interesting.
I'm happy I listened this album through.
I love Sault and they deserve to have a record on his list, me thinks
Really good music to work to.
I liked this quite a bit. I have little to no knowledge of R&B so I was going into this without any prior context and had a great time. Favorite tracks were Sorry Ain't Enough, Eternal Life, and Don't Shoot Guns Down. Don't Shoot Guns Down in particular stood out as just kinda weird but shockingly catchy. The whole album was very well made, and I think I'll be revisiting this one at some point.
4*
A genre-bending odyssey that captures the strange era we live in.
I like the vibes and grooves. Some say it’s a bit repetitive but isn’t James Brown repetitive? The hypnotic groove is the whole point. As for the politics, some of the best music is political because it has something to say.
Really good new music, so glad this made it on the list.
Super solid, I really liked this
Digger dette! Kul produksjon og form på låtene. Chill! vel, musikken er chill, teamtikken ikke likefullt...
Interesting
Loved it. Will need another 4-5 listens to say anything of value, but guarantee it will get those listens.
Played this album on repeat for 3-4 times and it really grew on me. Not all of the songs are great but there are lots of good and groovy stuff here.
Major surprise, liked it a lot!
This was a huge surprise — in the best way possible. I had never heard this before, and when I first saw the album cover, I assumed it would lean heavily toward the harder side of music. Then I noticed Wikipedia listed it as R&B, and I thought, oh no, not this crap again. But when I pressed play, I was blown away by how good it was. The sound is groovy, energetic, and refreshingly free of whining — none of the clichéd “aahs” and “oohs.” Instead, it’s layered with many things, including some really nice afro rhythms that keep things moving. Even though the album was long, it never felt boring or dragged at any point. Well done, Sault. And one more thing: it feels great to jump back into the 21st century after spending time with so many albums from the ’60s. A welcome change!
While I'm not a huge fan of religious music such as gospel, I do enjoy some aspects of it, especially the quality of the singing and intricate choir work. This album on the other hand had it all. It is a mesh of styles that seems like it can not work on paper, but the music just flows through styles effortlessly. Quick look into Qobuz revealed they've a massive catalog of music, which I'm probably going to be parsing through at an leisure pace. Excellent!
Überraschend gutes Album, hat n sehr angenehmen Klang
Also ich muss sagen ich vibe richtig hierzu, gechillt im Hintergrund beim arbeiten. Chillige R&B Beats
I liked the funk and soul melodies in this. Reminded me of Childish Gambino’s R&B stuff.
4/5
Cool jazzy album, reminded me a lot of the Internet. It's more of a long listen than an album with a lot of bangers, but it's well crafted.
It's different (good different). If you like to explore new music it's a great album to listen to.
Nice fusion of genres. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the spoken word poetry portions but the music was irresistible
4 stars. Smooth, diverse, reivindicative, funny, nice voices, nice arrangements. Overproduction at times.
A beautiful album
During my first listening, one of the things that catched my attention was how familiar it sounds. When I searched some information about the album, I found out that the producer of this album is the same one that produced some of the works of Little Simz. Talking about production, one of the things that stound out the most for me were the beats and instrumentation. You have the minimalistic but flavorful beats, like in the 'Wildfires' and you also got the incredible work of synths in 'Only Smith in Church' or 'Eternal Life' featuring some wonderful singing, which brings me to the next point, the vocals. This record present a high diversity of styles of singing, like spoken words, gospel and tht style of singing which characterizes R&B. My favourite parts where the ones featuring the last mentioned style, but I did also appreciate a lot the use of spoken word to emphasize the message of the album. And speaking of which, if there's something that makes the album more special than its mix of genres, is its message. It doesn't just talks about the struggles of the black comunity, like in the song 'Don't Shoot Guns Down', describing how they are very commonly victims of racially motivated police brutality; but most importantly, it tries to motivate those who are losing their identity as a member of their comunity, or at least this is the interpretation that I get from it. And this idea, is something I can relate a lot to, not because I'm black, but because I belong to a little region in Spain, called Galicia, where we are slowly losing our culture and roots due to the globalization and the severe punishment we had to suffer during the dictatorship of Franco. My only complain about this album would be that some songs can get a bit boring, like the last three songs or 'Why We Cry Why We Hide', in which the lyrics are almost repited throughout the whole track. I also have to mention that the beat in 'Black' sounds a bit goofy. I wasn't a big fan of it, specially in the context of this project. Overall, a very decent album, with its very highs and lows.
Politically conscious soul/funk/r&b music with a hip-hop feel and a particular focus on race and the Black experience in modern America. Perhaps not a novel combination, though something about Sault’s sound gives this album a unique and modern feel. But while modern, it feels very in touch with its musical and historical roots. The past, present, and future are all felt, fusing together as one. I really dug this album when it was first released - it felt fresh, timely, and significant at a time in the U.S. when racial tension was re-igniting and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was starting. It covered emotional ground that felt tangible - despair and disappointment, righteous anger, eternal hope in the face of injustice. It’s music with a salient message and great groove, even though many of the tracks are relatively simple and straight. The back half is a bit mellower and more typical than the fromt, though some of these tracks seem to extend the album rather than enhance it. Black Lives Matter. Full stop. If you have any qualifiers on that statement, you won’t dig this album.
Yep this is more like it.
Luscious harmonies and vocal tones.
I do love Sault, I think I first heard them on 3 Songs Podcast. This is so very good, I will have to remember to revisit more often
No esperaba que un álbum de Sault estuviese en esta lista, así que la escucha de hoy ha sido muy reconfortante, sobre todo por la voz de Cleo Sol, que siempre es un gusto escucharla. Si quieres escuchar algo del Neo Soul que está destacando en UK esta es una gran opción. 4/5
I really loved this record!!