Album Review: Mavis Staples, ‘Sad and Beautiful World’
If there’s a single album we should all be listening to right now, it’s Mavis Staples’ Sad and Beautiful World. A singer who’s been always at the forefront in struggles to transform our world through love and justice, whose weariness turns into doggedness, and whose happiness and joy shines through even life’s darkest moments, Mavis Staples draws passion for change from the depths of her soul, and her emotionally resonant vocals shimmer with tenderness in celebratory soul songs, even as the shiver with the grittiness in prowling blues numbers.
Every track on Sad and Beautiful World casts a light on the myriad of human emotions. Derek Trucks trades snaking slide guitar riffs with Buddy Guy’s and Rick Holmstrom’s searing lead guitar notes on the propulsive blues rocker “Chicago,” penned by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. In Staples version the song serves as an snapshot of her family’s move to Chicago when she was younger. The tender “Beautiful Strangers” sparkles with ethereal gospel-inflected harmony vocals as it offers the singer’s reassurance that despite the ugliness that often surrounds us the beauty of love redeems the world. She affirms in the song’s lyrics beauty resides in every soul, those near to us and those who might be strangers to us. The moving title track weaves synths, pedal steel, piano and guitar in undulating layers of sound rippling out in cinematic fashion and evoking both the sadness and beauty in the world. Staples’ version of “Satisfied Mind,” made famous by country singer Porter Wagoner, captures the haunting character of the song in its exploration of the transience of life and our longings for something beyond it. Staples delivers a straight-ahead folk soul take on Curtis Mayfield’s “We Got to Have Peace,” a plea for substantive and enduring ends to the divisiveness in our world. While every song on the album is a gem, if there is only one song you can listen to it needs to be the album’s closing track, the Eddie Hinton-penned “Everybody Needs Love.” Bonnie Raitt’s slide guitar drives the melodic theme of the song as organ, piano, and guitars swirl around it. Background vocals spiral higher and higher into a joyous affirmation of the power of love in this gospel soul song.
Mavis Staples continues to get better and better, and Sad and Beautiful World showcases her ability to dive deeply into a song, live in it, and draw out its essence to share with her listeners. This is another must-listen from Mavis Staples and among the year’s top albums.
#####
Sad and Beautiful World is available HERE.
Resources
