Music Jar – week 8

This week, I had the absolute pleasure of listening to nothing but Brittany Howard, known for her work with Alabama Shakes, Thunderbitch and Bermuda Triangle. In 2018, the former announced a hiatus which spelt the arrival of a solo album, Jaime, which I had never heard before. It was therefore here that I turned my attention.

I first heard of Alabama Shakes through a TV appearance, which in my head was Jools Holland but a quick Google search shows I may be mistaken. From there, I quickly got into their debut album, Boys & Girls, a wonderful and deep soul rock record with something for everyone but especially me.

I was therefore very happy to include Howard in the mix for the Music Jar 2022, especially to learn that there was more output from her than I was aware of.

It’ll come as little surprise that Jaime is just as loaded with heart as anything else I’d heard from Brittany Howard and her hiatus band. Listening to Thunderbitch also gave me access to a darker side of her skillset and some deep 60s guitar and organ riffs that would only ever tick boxes.

If there’s one thing that comes through in every single song, it’s the power of her vocal. There’s really nobody like her and I was fascinated to watch any live footage I could find to see her absolute all in every performance. There’s no way to halfarse some of these songs and that passion is what makes it so special.

My Spotify playlist of artists for 2022 will be built up here.