The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • TOTD
  • Books + Movies
  • Scene Unseen
  • About
15
new
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: ELECTRONIC THE DUCK – EP1
SPILL NEW MUSIC: MAX FOREMAN – “SECOND TIME AROUND”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: ISLANDS ANNOUNCE FIRST ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS ‘ISLOMANIA’ + SHARE “(WE LIKE TO) DO IT WITH THE LIGHTS ON” VIA ROYAL MOUNTAIN RECORDS
SPILL NEW MUSIC: PAUL WELLER ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM ‘FAT POP (VOLUME 1)’ SET TO BE RELEASED MAY 14 ON POLYDOR RECORDS | NEW SONG + VIDEO FOR “COSMIC FRINGES” OUT NOW
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: SWALLOWS – “IN THE SHADOW OF THE SEVEN STARS”
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MONOWHALES – DAYTONA BLEACH
SPILL NEWS: GREG KEELOR ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM ‘SHARE THE LOVE’ WITH VIDEO FOR THE FIRST SINGLE “WONDER”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: BARA HARI – “WEAPON”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: ELSKA – “ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: CAPTAIN DANGER – “HOLLY”
SPILL CONTEST: MANNEQUIN VANITY RECORDS GIVEAWAY – ENTER TO WIN A GIANT MVR PRIZE PACK!
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: CHARLIE NIELAND – DIVISIONS
SPILL FEATURE: NEW HIGHS, NEW LOWS – A CONVERSATION WITH WE WERE SHARKS
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: CITYLIGHTZ – “MY LIFE”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: CLOUD NOTHINGS’ “NOTHING WITHOUT YOU” FROM THE BAND’S EIGHTH STUDIO ALBUM ‘THE SHADOW I REMEMBER’ OUT NOW VIA CARPARK RECORDS
  • MORE
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • TOTD
  • Books + Movies
  • Scene Unseen
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • TOTD
    • Books + Movies
    • Scene Unseen
    • About
Portraits
89
previous article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ELIZABETH SHEPHERD-SIGNAL
next article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SHAKEY GRAVES - AND THE WAR CAME

Spill Artist Portrait by Daniel Adams: Alabama Shakes

THE SPILL MAGAZINE ARTIST PORTRAIT:
ALABAMA SHAKES

“We took our time to write this record, and I’m really glad we did,” says Brittany Howard, lead singer and guitarist of Alabama Shakes, about the band’s new album Sound & Color. “We were able to sit down and think about what’s exciting to us, explore all the things we wanted to on our first album. This record is full of genre-bending songs—it’s even harder now when people ask, ‘What kind of band are you?’ I have no clue.”

Sound & Color is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to the Shakes’ 2012 debut Boys & Girls, which earned the group three Grammy nominations, including a nod for Best New Artist. The gold-certified album’s breakthrough paved the way for the Shakes—Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, drummer Steve Johnson, and touring keyboard players Ben Tanner and Paul Horton—to become one of the most celebrated live acts in the world, as they delivered unforgettable performances everywhere from Saturday Night Live to the main stages of such festivals as Bonnaroo and Glastonbury.

“There was definitely a slight wave of pressure after that success,” says Fogg, “but everyone was really on the same page about letting that pass and making the record that we wanted to make, trying to be creative and free and not limit ourselves.”

The album’s twelve songs reveal a band honed by years on the road, and drawing from a wide range of influences. The bluesy groove of “Shoegaze” or the garage-rock freak-out on “The Greatest” give way to the psychedelic space jam “Gemini.” The gently swaying, chiming title song opens the album with what Howard calls “more of a visual thing, I think of this whole scene going on,” then explodes into the urgent, tightly-coiled funk of “Don’t Wanna Fight.” Long instrumental intros and passages create hazy atmosphere, and then the intensity of Howard’s vocals snaps everything back into riveting focus.

She explains that there were a few specific recordings that were touchstones for Sound & Color. “The Superfly soundtrack, Gil Scott-Heron’s music and how minimal it could be, David Axelrod—not so much wanting to sound like them, but all of their attention to small details. With ‘Gemini,’ I thought about how the Temptations used to write pop songs, but then got really far out on ‘Cloud Nine’ or ‘Psychedelic Shack.’ I imagined myself in the situation of the African-American groups in the ‘70s, when synthesizers had just come out and they were making all of this moody stuff.”

“Ever since Boys & Girls came out, we’ve tried really hard to not give in to media or public definition of what we should be,” adds Fogg. “So those kinds of influences have been there all the time, but this record pushes them to different extremes—before, if we had a more contemporary R&B feel, it was more hidden under a classic vibe, but it’s separated a little more drastically on this one.”

The songs were written during breaks in the grueling touring schedule of a young band, sometimes by the members together and sometimes by Howard working alone at her home studio. She notes that there were several dedicated writing periods during the past year, but that “sometimes I wasn’t dedicating enough time, so I’d binge-write, sit in the basement and work for 18 hours for five days straight.”

When the Shakes began recording at Nashville’s Sound Emporium studio, Blake Mills—a young guitar wizard who has previously helmed sessions by Sara Watkins and Sky Ferriera, and played alongside everyone from Norah Jones and the Dixie Chicks to Lana Del Ray and Kid Rock—came on board as a co-producer to help harness all of the different ideas. “Blake really helped bring out our confidence, and our comfort in being ourselves,” says Fogg, while Howard adds that “Blake has really strong communication, and the ability to light a fire under your ass.”

Fogg says that the recording of “Gimme All Your Love” was a pivotal moment on Sound & Color. “That was one of the earlier songs we did, and it hit a lot of different chords,” he says. “A lot of songs branched out from that one—it’s a hard-driving R&B song, but there’s a time change midway though, effects on Brittany’s voice, different extremes that were explored.”

Other tracks took a more circuitous route. “The Greatest” began as a ballad, but when it wasn’t clicking, Mills suggested that the band speed it up to punk-rock tempo. “Future People,” says Howard, “started as an experiment with native African rhythms, and then went into something like a dream sequence, and then turned into these children’s-group vocals.

“It really turned into each song having its own goal,” she continues. “With each one, it was like, ‘This sounds like “The Man Who Sold the World”—let’s explore that.’ Each song was transforming into something else.”

Sound & Color also demonstrates the tremendous strides made by a group of musicians who had only been playing together for a few months when they recorded their first album. “These songs are not simple,” says Howard. “They’re intricate, like a spider web or a tapestry. Our drummer, Steve, has put in a lot of work, gotten so much better—we all have.”

“Everybody has really advanced on their instruments,” says Fogg. “Brittany’s vocals have gotten so much stronger, she’s able to do more things than she even knew she could.”

“I feel like I’m capable of anything,” the singer responds. “It took a lot of patience to make this record, and to communicate so well with each other. I know now we’re the kind of band that can do that.”

With Sound & Color, Alabama Shakes prove that the response to Boys & Girls was no fluke. Expanding on the soulful blues-rock base that made their name, they defy predictable expectations and map an exciting, surprising, and innovative new direction. As they prepare to return to the road, what shines through is a sense of pride and self-assuredness—feelings not often associated with the always-tricky sophomore album.

“We really thought about what record we wanted to make, and decided that we didn’t want to do something like Boys & Girls, Part Two,” says Brittany Howard. “We’ve grown a lot, learned a lot about music, listened and thought about a lot of things—about being minimal and tasteful, keeping it classy. After that decision to start over, with a clean slate, it was easy. We could just do what we wanted to do.”

Portraits
alabama shakesdaniel adamsportraits
alabama shakes, daniel adams, portraits
About the Author
Daniel Adams
Daniel Adams
Daniel is an illustrator/graphic designer based out of Austin Texas. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a Bachelors degree in Illustration and an Associates degree in Graphic Design. Daniel started his career in graphic design in the world of online casinos. Since then he’s worked with various clients from around the United States and Canada including but not limited to NHL, Subway, Paraco Propane, Pitney Bowes, Xerox, Conduent, Nestle Waters, The Spill Magazine, Stamford CT’s DSSD, Beechnut Baby Foods, Elizabeth Arden and much more.
RELATED ARTICLES
alabama shakesdaniel adamsportraits
 
9.0
Brittany Howard
6.9

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BRITTANY HOWARD – JAIME

by Michelle Cooney on September 20, 2019
Brittany Howard Jaime ATO Records Brittany Howard dominates in her debut solo album Jaime. The guitarist and vocalist of Alabama Shakes simply can’t conform to any musical style on this [...]
 

SPILL NEW MUSIC: ALABAMA SHAKES NEW RELEASE FROM “SOUND & COLOR” ON ATO RECORDS

by SPILL NEW MUSIC on December 2, 2015
Alabama Shakes Release Title Track As The Fourth Single From Sound & Color ATO Records Alabama Shakes doles out a soulful ballad this time around, the [...]
Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MONOWHALES – DAYTONA BLEACH
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: HYSTERICS – SLEEP
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MELVINS – GLUEY PORCH TREATMENTS (VINYL R...
6.0
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NOFX – SINGLE ALBUM
10
9.9
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ALICE COOPER – DETROIT STORIES
8.0
Latest Live Reviews
View All
 
Lord Huron

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 2 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)

by Robert Defina on February 18, 2021
94
 
Small Town Titans

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: SMALL TOWN TITANS @ SMT HQ, YORK (PA)

by Gerrod Harris on February 6, 2021
37
 
Lord Huron

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 1 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)

by Robert Defina on January 7, 2021
441
 
Wardruna

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: WARDRUNA – ‘KVITRAVN’ PRESENTATION (ONLINE PERFORMANCE)

by Samantha Wu on December 10, 2020
201
 
Evanescence

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: EVANESCENCE @ ROCK FALCON STUDIO, NASHVILLE (TN)

by Melinda Welsh on December 5, 2020
63
Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2020 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NOFX – SINGLE ALBUM
1943
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
683
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III
581
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GUIDED BY VOICES – STYLES WE PAID FOR
564
 
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: CHURCH OF TREES FEAT. CAROLE POPE – “WORLD’S A BITCH”
465
 
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 1 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)
441
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BLACK PISTOL FIRE – LOOK ALIVE
386
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS – LIVE IN BOSTON, 1982: THE COMPLETE CONCERT
351
 
SPILL NEW MUSIC: “SHAMELESS” STAR WILLIAM H. MACY RELEASES DEBUT SINGLE “WHISKEY DELL” UNDER “WILLIE CREEKS” MONIKER
333
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DIRTY NIL – FUCK ART
288
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHRIS CORNELL – NO ONE SINGS LIKE YOU ANYMORE
287
 
SPILL FEATURE: TRULY ORCHESTRATING HIS OWN LIFE – A CONVERSATION WITH RICK SPRINGFIELD
281
 
SPILL FEATURE: HIS STORY RIGHT NOW – A CONVERSATION WITH cEvin Key
279
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES