Album of the Week

Rhiannon Giddens’ latest is a surprise and a delight—a mix of the mountain music we’ve come to expect from the Grammy winner but also a slew of solid gold soul. That new persona suits her very, very well, as Giddens turns into a funk diva for sassy opener “Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad”—a kiss-off to an ex trying to get back in. Bolstered by big, bright horns, shoop-shoop backing vocals and a feisty beat, Giddens growls her warning at “just an old dog with old tricks.” Stirring, bass-throbbing “Wrong Kind of Right” picks up where Amy Winehouse tragically left off. And “You’re the One” is a fascinating combo: Blending strutting soul and solid beats from producer Jack Splash, with Giddens’ delicate banjo. The song breaks wide open at the chorus, then turns folky. Giddens isn’t the only one having fun.

Duet partner Jason Isbell positively cuts loose on “Yet to Be,” a rootsy, Janis Joplin-style blues number that finds the two super-strong voices and personalities trading verses and weaving a rollicking harmony. The beats and horns turn ominous on “Another Wasted Life,” a chronicle of brutality within America’s justice and prison systems. “Doesn’t matter what the crime/ If indeed there was the time/ He’s given solitary time ... It’s a torture of the soul/ The narrow confines of control/ Thrown down the stinking hole/ With no hope of release,” Giddens sings. But she finds release, if not relief, chanting the title line of the chorus—setting off for a different stratosphere where she drags out the vocalizations.

The second half of the record is more traditional, but in no way average or predictable. Giddens gets into mountain mischief on “You Louisiana Man,” with trembling accordion from Dirk Powell, and sweetly lays down the law on “If You Don’t Know How Sweet It Is,” kicking back against a partner whining about tough steak, loud kids and unfolded laundry: “You’re good, but I’ll find better/ And it’ll be without your bitching/ If you don’t know how sweet it is/ Get on outta my kitchen!” “Hen in the Foxhouse” is sultry and playful, with a wild rhythm. The jazzy “You Put the Sugar in My Bowl” is old-timey flirtatious, and Giddens goes full Ella on the dreamy “Who Are You Dreaming Off,” with its cymbal brushwork like an audio time portal.