When blues-rock titans Alabama Shakes unleashed incendiary protest single American Dream this April, its litany of furies surrounding civilian shootings, body autonomy, wealth disparity and more — all set against a backdrop where the President has “got The White House all pretty and pimped out” — seemed a particularly timely call to arms. However in reality, the trio’s indomitable vocalist Brittany Howard explains, nursing a coffee the day after their first London show in 10 years at Alexandra Palace, its lyrical howl of desperation dates back to the turn of the decade: a damning indictment of just how little has changed since the Shakes started making early moves towards what would become this month’s vital third album, I Must Be Dreaming.
“I mean, me personally, I would love not to write songs like that. I would love to write songs about peace and love. But that’s not really what’s staring me in the face,” she considers. “You can’t help but look at people you care about, especially people who are under the boot so to speak, and be affected by it. I can’t explain [the world] because it don’t make no sense to me, but you can’t help but look at people you love and see the worry in their face, and the fear that they feel, and not feel some type of way about it. It’s like you sign an agreement when you pay your taxes, but then they don’t fulfil what they said they were going to do.”
