by Mavis Staples
One True Vine is Staples’ second album working with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. The songs come from varied pens and eras, but are unified here through the striking weight and proximity of Staples’ honest vocals – both in sound and sentiment – and the generous yet understated instrumentation. These songs are so solid they’re almost tactile – carved into wood, the flow of the grain would be discernable to the touch.
Low’s Alan Sparhawk wrote the opening song Holy Ghost, a slow 3/4 step with long, choral backing vocals, demonstrating straight up the quality of the contemporary gospel offered on this album. Nick Lowe contributes the driving Celestial Shores. Tweedy adds several new originals, including Every Step, with its fuzz guitars and heavy, chain gang momentum, and the eponymous One True Vine.
These originals are peppered throughout reworked gospel staples (excuse the pun) – including the Staple Singers’ I Like The Things About Me – and a beautiful rendition of George Clinton and Funkadelic’s Can You Get To That, the heavy bounce of which speaks to Staples’ work with The Band.
by Maddy Mac - The Breakfast Spread
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