SAULT Vinyl & CDs

Review: British collective, Sault, have made quite the name for themselves since their emergence in 2019. Headed up by producer, Inflo (known for his work with Little Simz, Michael Kiwanuka, Cleo Sol, Jungle and Adele), the collective boast an amorphous sound that encircles r&b, house and disco, and now combined with classical and choral elements too. With an impressive eleven studio albums to their name, the latest edition to the collection, Aiir, is a gloriously stripped-back sequel for their more sumptuous classical companion piece, Air. Nestled somewhere between a sense of paranoia and nostalgia, billowing choral vocals and rising oscillating orchestration give this release an unsettling yet alluringly transportive quality. Despite impressive critical success, Sault is largely a media enigma, featuring an array of mysteriously unnamed collaborators who, as one can imagine, are most likely highly acclaimed artists in their own right.

Review: SAULT's body of work is almost untouchable. The mysterious collective has turned out plenty of it in the last couple of years with no fewer than four fantastic albums. This one is a complete left turn, though, which ditches the edgy alt-rock, sou land jazz for an altogether more subbed and symphonic sound. It is a soaring astral soundtrack with plenty of wide open spaces, grand arrangements and plenty of uplifting and celebratory sounds drawn from hugely spiritual choral music and contemporary classical.

Review: Very little is known about the collective of musicians behind the SAULT project, but their music in many ways speaks for itself. Earlier in the year they delivered Untitled (Black Is), a heartfelt, angry and righteous set of soul, funk, drill and spoken word tracks that provided a brilliant commentary on what it means to be black in 2020. It's a contender for album of the year, for sure, and the good news is that this speedy follow-up is every bit as essential. It's undoubtedly more celebratory than its predecessor, but every bit as musically detailed, combining cutting-edge electronics and all manner of infectious rhythms with enlightening vocals and all manner of live jazz, soul, punk-funk and jazz-funk instrumentation (as well as some seriously evocative orchestration).