There’s no needless sheathing of the obvious on SAULT’s latest record, Untitled (Black Is). It’s a diary of what the Black community has been going through for centuries. “Don’t shoot, guns down, Racist policeman,” repeats over and over again on “Don’t shoot, guns down,” just as the phrase has been said, unheard, throughout the entirety of US history. The track “Sorry Ain’t Enough” speaks for itself with the title alone. The monologue that the beginning of the track “Black Is” is yet another re-statement of the power of the Black community as well as the suffering that the community has endured. But it’s also a manifesto of resilience and benevolence.
The 20 track record came as a surprise last week — not a lot of warning. It amplifies and makes concise the voices that need to be heard. Instead of putting my own spin on all of it, you need to listen to it yourself, firsthand. It’s a masterfully composed record, full of subtle driving rhythms and bits of all parts of American (read: Black) music history scattered all throughout.
In this journal of relayed, real experience, it is mainly about hope, about the magic of Blackness: “It’s time to wake up, we have walked the walk many years, many times. we have walked in silence, we have expressed our voices… people have died. nobody’s listening, nobody listens, nobody cared, nobody cared. This generation cares.”
Just listen for yourself
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