Not until you’ve listened to Rakim on a rocky mountaintop / Have you heard hip-hop,” mused poet/MC Saul Williams on his landmark 1998 polemic Twice the First Time, relocating the art form from the urban context that birthed it and challenging us to reconsider its possibilities. The startling and often brilliant sixth album from Sault is a similarly daring act of creative rebirth, swapping out the kaleidoscopic, razor-sharp funk/soul/rap/dub/whatever of their previous boundary-breaking work for an entirely new and unexpected paradigm.
Though notorious for their love of mystery, it is now generally known that Sault are led by Dean Josiah Cover. Better known as Inflo, the producer of award-winning albums by Michael Kiwanuka and Little Simz, Cover will probably live comfortably off his contributions to Adele’s 30 for the rest of his years. Fittingly, the total volte-face of Air feels like the work of an artist who, having proved themselves within the pop realm, decides it’s time to pursue their grandest visions.
