Sad and beautiful maybe, but so much and all the better for having Mavis in it.
Release Date: 7th November 2025
Label: Anti Records
Format: CD / Vinyl / Digital
AS STRONG AS EVER
Most reviews of Mavis Staples and this, her latest release, tend to begin by referencing her age. This seems harsh, especially so when there is so little to demonstrate any apparent accompanying frailty in her instrument of choice, her voice seemingly as strong as ever. Stronger, even, as, whilst it may not be that with which she began; it is now a little richer and carries a greater heft of emotions, earned and bestowed by experience. I’d go further, suggesting that, with care, the female voice has a greater longevity than the male counterpart. Here there is no need to praise the diminished range and the frailty of projection, finding nuances hitherto undiscovered, as we do with Willie Nelson and Martin Carthy, here she is still core Mavis, and long may that last.
But there is more than just that voice on show here, as this disc continues the trend of her pairing up with producers who have sufficient eye on the zeitgeist as to find her songs that matter to and match her faith. Not necessarily religious, and certainly not orthodox gospel, but songs that are essentially humanitarian in outlook. Meaningful songs with a message, should you choose to hear the words. Often contemporary and sometimes recent, with a backing roster of musicians that also show with how much regard Ms. Staples is held. Less hired guns, more respectful courtiers. Following on from such notables as Jeff Tweedy, Ben Harper and Larry Campbell, here the producer is Phil Cook, whose credits, both as a musician as well as the production desk, encompass a broad range of roots American styles, from the blues to bluegrass and back again.
NO NONSENSE BLUES CHUG
It is a song by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, Chicago, that opens up the set. A no nonsense blues chug, it belts out from the first moment, a deliberate statement around what is on the menu here. If you want graceful and respectful, you’re in the wrong place, as Staples imparts the vocal with a low moan, over a bed of searing slide guitar, from Derek Trucks, trading licks with Buddy Guy, no less. Both brusquer and brisker than Waits’ original, this is no little old lady. Followed by Kevin Morby’s Beautiful Strangers, this now is the slow and mellifluous croon more expected.
That old cliche of sonic cathedral might, for once, be aposite, even if by virtue of being the sound and sort of song all cathedrals should ring to. The backing vocals are, as with the first track, consummate, drawing comparison with the Blind Boys Of Alabama, despite being much younger white boys from all over; Sam ‘Iron & Wine’ Beam on the opener, Nathaniel Rateliff here.
AN ELEGY
The title track may surprise, it being one by the late troubled Sparklehorse man, Mark Linkous, an elegy that, in Staples’ hands, is fit both for the writer and for the world it references. Pedal steel floats exquisitely over the sense of desperate sadness imbued. Amy Ray, the Indigo Girl, is one of the backing vocalists. Sticking in soliloquy mode, Human Mind is then a song of hope, a song of intent. Warm brass and the classic Southern Soul sound of piano and organ grant this the most overtly gospel feel so far. You won’t know the song, as it was written especially for this album and for Staples, by Allison Russell and Hozier: “I deal in love, Baby, in good words, Baby, from above“, the lyric capturing her M.O. to a T.
NOW A GENTLE RAPIER
The cathedral has now subtly shifted to a outland prairie shack, for some downhome organic blues, seeing the return of Trucks to guitar duties, with old buddy Jeff Tweedy popping up on bass as well. As across the record so far, none of these guests detract from the main attraction one iota, Staples’ voice a gentle rapier cutting through anything extraneous. Katie Crutchfield, aka Waxahatchee, adds vocals, another acolyte humbled by the company. If you recognise and recall this Gillian Welch song, transformed by this iteration, you are doing well. Likewise, for Frank Ocean’s Godspeed, where Staples strips away any vestige of secularity from this song of farewell, it becoming positively hymnal, with a Preservation Hall style brass arrangement that could convert you on the spot. It is bookended by a spoken poem, as banjo and a smoky saxophone find a queasy balance.
A CLOSER CONTEMPORARY
It is now to the work of a closer contemporary that this record now goes. Curtis Mayfield was both a friend and a collaborator, and his We Got To Have Peace is a jittery plea for tolerance, which, surprisingly, despite that, is quite unlike some of the more anthemic songs here, a more ragged entreaty, and none the less convincing thereby. Another backing singer, to all intents rendered anonymous, is Black Puma, Eric Burton.
The same sense of barely contained rage, both of Mayfield’s song and of Staples’ delivery, filters into a further song from another, were he still alive, who might be seen as a peer. And, once more, it may take a moment to factor in that the song is Leonard Cohen’s Anthem. Maybe not, as once it clicks, it is obvious, but it took a bar or two, and is so very, very suited to Staples’ cracked delivery. That New Orleans brass returns and you may float away as it does.
QUIETLY CONTEMPLATIVE
A reminder of the kindred relation between Southern Soul and Country music comes with Satisfied Mind, a song first made famous by Porter Wagoner, if later covered by both Mahalia Jackson and Ella Fitzgerald. Without any competitive histrionic, this is a quietly contemplative version, with some sacred sounding steel. And that list of additional singers gets ever longer, with Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver. Finally, and if the album began with a choogly snarl, it ends with a crisp Staxy caper: Everybody Needs Love. The whistly organ, from Cook throughout, as is most the piano, is tremendous as is the slide guitar of, this time, Bonnie Raitt. There is a bit more of a massed chorale as the words get repeated and repeated, and it is an apt and appropriate sentiment with which to end.
WHAT A GIFT THIS IS
Phil Cook has said he wished to recreate the idea of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken project for this album, bringing together a host of guests to celebrate a musical community. To some extent, with the array of participants involved, he has succeeded. However, inasmuch as the Dirt Band were happy to play equal to their roster of supporting artists, here this is inescapably Mavis Staples’ show. The contributions may be stellar, but they circle her sun. She tried to retire in 2023, but felt she still had too much to give. And what a gift this is. Mavis Staples is 86.
Here’s Godspeed:
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