At the beginning of November, the ever-fascinating collective SAULT released five albums at the same time, making them available for download from their website for the extremely limited time of five days. Although physical formats remain(ed) an option, it was uncertain if the albums would ever arrive on the broader platform afforded by streaming services.

In the last few days though, all five of the albums have arrived there (unannounced), offering more people a chance to revel in their assorted glories. And glories come in abundance across the five albums in a staggering array of textures, atmospheres and styles. Some of the albums appear at first to have a unifying theme and others have a common musical style, but trying to absorb the mammoth release is quite overwhelming at first. I’m grateful for the time afforded me between the limited and widely available releases to fully get to grips with the multitudes contained within.

Having listened repeatedly (endlessly?!) to the five albums, it is difficult to spot unifying themes or approaches that extend fully across each project, perhaps with the exception of Untitled (God). But what is certain is the breadth of sounds that the group master with seeming ease. At its heart, it is a celebration of possibility and the demolition of boundaries. Demolition by percussive mastery, formidable bass lines and subtle moments of deep joy.

And as for why SAULT would release so much music at one time in such an unconventional way, the answer is, simply, because they can. They are free from the shackles of record label expectations and interference—free to make whatever they want. It is a freedom born of their talents and success, and earned with excellence.

AIIR

AIIR is a continuation of the work on this year’s first installment and is fairly slight at five tracks. The two bookends of the album, “4am” and “5am” are the most successful and enticing due to the vocals on offer, whereas the three “songs” in between are well orchestrated with the odd shadow of Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” for example, but feel like snippets of longer pieces—like highlights of an extended classical piece or soundtrack.

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Untitled (God)

Untitled (God) sees 2020’s “Untitled” titular theme continue with what, for all intents and purposes, is a gospel album. But SAULT have always left space in the room for God, so this is less of a jump than might be anticipated. At 21 tracks long, there is undoubtedly some weight that could have been trimmed, but the album manages to skillfully blend the slower, blissful numbers where it’s possible to bask in the wonder of God’s glory and the euphoria of a foot-stomping, testifying uptempo song of praise.

The two opening songs reflect that well—“I Am Free” is a delightful, elegiac piece of music led by strings that gives way to bubbling bass and a beat that snaps like an alligator’s jaws on “God Is Love.” Better still, though, is “Spirit High” that squeezes both approaches into two-and-a-half minutes. It opens with the fervor of the choir and stark bass and drums before switching down to a serene slice of bliss with Cleo Sol on vocals.

Another aspect of the album worth noting is the expansion of the collective. Alongside the ever-magnificent Cleo Sol are SAULT alumni Little Simz (“Free”) and Michael Kiwanuka (“Colour Blind”) and new voices that add even more quality to the proceedings. Chronixx first popped up on the recent EP X and makes more appearances here, including a wonderful duet with Sol on “Love Will Free Your Mind.” Meanwhile, on one of the standout tracks “God In Disguise,” there’s a new (as yet unidentified) voice. It also sounds like it could have been ripped from the recently unveiled Charles Stepney album Step on Step, as it shares a similar musical DNA.

One part of the collective that sometimes gets overlooked is Melisa Young (a.k.a. Kid Sister), but here she contributes her infallible tones to the same great effect as on previous outings. Here she prays to God with producer Inflo’s incredible orchestration behind her on “Guide My Steps” and it’s honestly enough to turn a devil worshipping Satanist to a devout believer.

There are occasions when songs meander and lose their shape and purpose (“I Surrender,” for example), but even those have details that catch the ear. On “Safe Within Your Hands,” there’s a deliciously wonky piano that brings to mind church halls the world over, rather than a state of the art recording studio, thereby giving it a layer of charm that offsets the misgivings about other aspects of the song.

While the album may be “gospel” by name, not all of it is gospel by nature (allowing for the fact that most music is at least partially made up of gospel music that came before). There is a delightfully light Latin touch to “My Light,” a psych-soul, Rotary Connection feel to the closer “Life We Rent But Love Is Rent Free” and the soulful hip hop of “Free.” The range on just this one album is impressive, let alone across all five releases.

Notable Tracks: “God In Disguise” | “God Is Love” | “Love Is All I Know” | “My Light”

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11

11 is a briefer affair entirely and consequently feels much sharper in focus. A chunky bassline and Cleo Sol’s pitch shifted voice kick things off on “Glory,” a statuesque piece that sets the scene well. Despite its leaner duration, the album sees the level of variety maintained across the running time. Chronixx pops up again on the serene, soulful “Fear No-One” and the reggae-lite of “Morning Sun,” while a Blaxploitation era soul shuffle replete with wah-wah guitar struts by on “Together.” In fact, it is a noticeable characteristic of the assorted works that the guitar sees more focus, sometimes shredding away mercilessly.

The guitar lines on “Envious” and “Fight For Love” are a delight, and “In The Air” is an object lesson in scratchily funky guitar work. But perhaps the pick of the lot is the woozily seductive “River,” which is not a raging torrent but rather a summery meander through lush, green hills. It shows an exceptionally light touch both musically and lyrically, thereby demonstrating (if that were necessary) the group to be capable of ferocious power, tender delicacy and everything in between.

Notable Tracks: “Fight For Love” | “Glory” | “River” | “Together”

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Today & Tomorrow

Today & Tomorrow has perhaps the clearest style of the five albums, as it consists largely of bass, drums and lead guitar. It’s not hard to make a stylistic link from Jimi Hendrix’s Band Of Gypsys era or early Funkadelic to some of the material here—its funky and filled with rock and roll swagger. Much of the album is without lyrics and when they do come, they are very often delivered by a chorus of children—hence the title of the album.

It’s hard to imagine the impact on those youngsters of being part of a project under the auspices of such a phenomenal talent as Inflo. In the same way as I always think about the children providing the chanted facts on Stevie Wonder’s “Black Man,” I’ll wonder about the influence of this work on those kids’ futures. The first five tracks are cut broadly from the same funk-rock cloth before the album explodes in a frenzy of punky attitude and music on “The Plan” and “Money.” The same chunky basslines that litter SAULT’s discography are present, but this time they are sped up and stripped of their funk to provide the driving impetus for the kids to harangue the world.

“The Return” could be a Radiohead song at its start and it broods sulkily like a disgruntled teenager. The real highlight of the set though is the album closer “Above The Sky,” which sounds like it could come from a revival of Hair, filled as it is with flower power, hippy soul-rock affectations. While there is undoubtedly a rougher feel to this album, the combination of that and the presence of the kids lends it a winning charm that the fuzzed-up guitar work only adds to.

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Notable Tracks: “Above The Sky” | “In The Beginning” | “The Return”

Earth

Earth is my favorite of the five albums and stands shoulder to shoulder with SAULT’s very best work. The same percussive power and variety that marked their Untitled albums from 2020 comes to the fore here, but as always with the remarkable collective, that is far from the only power on show. It feels repetitive to say that they run the gamut of music grounded in the Black experience, but it stands true—they are capable of harnessing the power of multiple musical styles to their will, being incredibly successful as they go.

A stately, choral piece of vocal work that might be heard in a place of worship opens the album (“Spirit Call”) before the glory of God is showcased in the most wonderful way. African drums, the magnificent choir and a transcendental repetition of the lyrics create an eight-and-a-half-minute song of thrilling proportions on “The Lord’s With Me”—it is stirring physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The same polyrhythms usher in Kid Sister on “Power” to hold court in the way only she can and again on “Soul Inside My Beautiful Imagination”—they are the common link that thread the album together. But also on the album is a song dangerously close to a pop song (“Valley Of The Ocean”), a ray of Brazilian sunshine in the shape of “God Is In Control” (sung in part by Xenia Franca) and the baggy, loose funk of “Warrior” that features the soothing tones of Chronixx.

My favorite track is something that shows a darker hue of mood. A somber bassline and a cold, slightly disengaged vocal envelop everything on “Fields” before a twangy, disjointed guitar solo enhances the darker mood. Its repeated refrain is “I choose to love you even though it gets harder every day” and it marks a seldom heard layer of negativity in matters of interpersonal relationships. It is malevolent, brooding and magnificent, and rounded out by more scuzzy guitar work.

Notable Tracks: “Fields” | “God Is In Control” | “The Lord’s With Me” | “Stronger”

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