Earth

In contrast to the epic 21-track Untitled (God) released at the same time, Earth is a more concise 9-song affair from UK mystery soul outfit Sault. Its particular distinction among Sault’s albums is perhaps that it’s the one that fits the most into the least amount of tracks, the album that effortlessly includes pure African drum and percussion tracks, funked-up hip hop, heartfelt 21st-century blues, hybrid dub-hip hop and more. Intense and direct, Earth is an album of contrasts; compare “The Lord’s With Me,” an intense 8 minutes+ journey of devotional, meditative polyrhythmic percussive soul jazz, to the accessible “Valley Of The Ocean,” a song one could imagine Adele or Beyonce taking to the mainstream, it’s a great illustration of the sheer breadth their remarkable 2022 album run.

Here is where Cover combines a sort of percussive matrix with the string arrangements, leading me to think each of these albums represents a different band idea, and Earth seems to be more percussion and voice, less American soul, less Anglophone. This is weird and wild, one of my favorites in the SAULT megalopolis. “Stronger,” a slow and burning song, is one of my favorites from this batch. Is that Cleo Sol or Kid Sister singing? I cannot tell you.