Mavis Staples
' first album since 2019 features one song written specifically for her. A solemn ballad composed by
Allison Russell
and
Hozier
, "Human Mind" starts by lamenting wildfires and war while promoting love and resolve. It takes a personal turn in the second verse: "I dealed in loss, daddy/I am the last, daddy/Last of us/Ain't always easy to believe/I miss my family, daddy." Moved to tears when the song was presented to her,
Staples
naturally delivers it, low and grainy, as if the image of her father
Pops
is clear in her mind. It's no surprise that
puts as much of herself into the rest of the songs. The selections span over 60 years, and in most cases suit
as much as those who first recorded them. That voice, comforting as ever, is carefully framed throughout by production from
Brad Cook
. He brings in a group of associates that involves brother and fellow muti-instrumentalist
Phil Cook
, drummer
Matt McCaughan
, and
Nathan Stocker
, who along with
Rick Holmstrom
(
' bandleader) lends much of the guitar work. The likes of
MJ Lenderman
Jeff
Spencer Tweedy
occasionally spell some of the primary instrumentalists. There's some extra percussion and a little bit of brass and woodwinds, but nothing is overdressed, and numerous background voices foster the communal, down-home feel. Opening the album like a splash of cold water to the face,
Tom Waits
' first-person migration narrative "Chicago" has some parallels with
Pops Staples
' life story. It's told here with all the necessary locomotive energy, generated in part by the guitars of fellow Windy City transplant
Buddy Guy
Derek Trucks
(on slide). What follows is a patiently paced sequence of smartly chosen, intensely contemplative ballads.
and the players tie the disparate sources together such that they resemble the effort of one songwriting team. Two of the songs that are farthest apart -- "Satisfied Mind," popularized by
Porter Wagoner
, and "Godspeed," premiered on
Frank Ocean
's
Blonde
-- exemplify the album's philosophical and affirmational qualities. It's chilling to have
Curtis Mayfield
's "We Got to Have Peace" and
Kevin Morby
's "Beautiful Strangers," respectively a Vietnam War protest and a response to mass shootings and racist police brutality, sit together despite a half-century difference in origin.
Eddie Hinton
's "Everybody Needs Love" (1986) is the most obscure inclusion by far, and it's an apt finale with a sense of uplift aided by the voices of
Bonnie Raitt
(also on slide guitar),
Katie Crutchfield
(aka
Waxahatchee
),
Nathaniel Rateliff
Patterson Hood
(of
Drive-By Truckers
, who covered the song). A vibrant mix of gospel, blues, country, soul, and rock, this is roots music that speaks to the present with compassionate, life-affirming power. It's yet another artistic triumph for the Black American music and Civil Rights icon. ~ Andy Kellman