“Now, Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers”. The core, enduring members of Alabama Shakes have been aware of the synonymity of the blues and their homes state since before their music had earned comparisons via their highly acclaimed first two albums, Boys & Girls and Sound & Colour. Brittany Howard and co have no dear affinity for Muscle Shoals, but an admiration, nonetheless. Keeping this admiration at arm’s length has allowed the now-trio to expand musically, which the Shakes continue to do on their first album in eleven years.
Brittany Howard’s second solo album, What Now, allowed her carte blanche to do whatever she damn well pleased; progressive and psychedelic soul with some electronic/dance elements. I Must Be Dreaming keeps Alabama Shakes in the realm of rock music, slightly less frenzied than Sound & Colour – needs more rapid, fuzzed-up songs like The Greatest – but you can certainly tell how the album formed from the immediacy of jamming, soon to be crispened by analogue signal chains and maximalised recording studio space, observed by Shawn Everett. The album achieves an astonishingly warm sound, bass-in-your-face, with numerous, delicious add-ons to steer the album away from anything that resembles traditional blues rock.
American Dream is the closest we get to traditional blues, but even it is ambushed by dreamy – perhaps intentional, perhaps pun intended – guitar layering, and basslines that chug as equally as they slow-motion walk. The album otherwise features respectful, D’Angelo-esque, bassline-driven neo-soul (Tea Time / How Love’s Supposed to Go begins this way before spasming into pandemonium rock drumbeats). And classic, soulful bustle with anthemics that burgeon as if born in leguminous pods (on Another Life, Brittany appears possessed by the natural fear of American life circa 2026 / on Waist Deep, guitars start shitting fuzz out of nowhere). And laid-back, seamlessly-obtained dream states with hints of blues (Garden / Tied to You / Easy gets extra points for using a sitar for the sake of psychedelia and to make blues slightly more interesting – take that, Ravi Shankar! Not sure why I said “take that, Ravi Shankar!”).
Returning from hiatus, this is the matured Alabama Shakes. Tonally, presentation-wise, I Must Be Dreaming may not be as excitable as Sound & Colour, but it’s nice to hear the band return not just for the sake of legacy. The Shakes have changed since 2015; America has changed since 2015. The lies of mainstream politicians are grizzlier, and the president would rather fabricate his own “successes” with cheap AI images than take accountability. On I Feel Hope Coming, Brittany Howard takes the optimist’s route; her urgent shrieks invite ‘we’re in this together’ choir vocals whilst guitars remain deep in wispy, psychedelic hazes. Alabama Shakes have returned to grow, to mature, to fight. It’s good to have you back.
Best track – Another Life.
Rating – 7 out of 10
