Mavis Staples is an icon. Not only was she a member of legendary soul and r’n’b group, The Staple Singers, but she’s a civil rights activist and a fledgling solo artist in her own right. After the last 12 months, which includeed a huge American tour with Bob Dylan this month and huge guest spots with the likes of Arcade Fire (‘I Give You Power’) and Gorillaz (‘Let Me Out’), she’s back with her third collaboration with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy on new album, If All I Was Was Black. Described by Staples as a reaction to the bigotry, unseemliness and crisis of contemporary America, it’s an album that shows as much love as it does anger and, ultimately, it’s an album that strives for togetherness through Staples’ gorgeous, impassioned tones.

Staples and Tweedy’s first alliance, You Are Not Alone, resulted in a Grammy Award for Best Americana album and, truly, this feels like an album steeped in Americana as much as that album or, say, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. Throughout it’s a soul elegy, built around modish basslines and silvery, foot-tapping drum beats with lyrics that are fortified with hidden meanings, fierce damnations and, occasionally, conniption.

Positively and confidently, album opener, ‘Little Bit’, is a soul hymn, with Staples singing of the unwarranted and arbitrary conduct of officials towards black people. Staples declares: “Poor kid, they caught him/ Without his license/ That ain’t why they shot him/ They say he was fighting,” at a point during the song. Elsewhere she sings “So, that’s what we’re told/ But we all know/ That ain’t how the story goes.” Tweedy, who wrote all of the songs on the album, is siphoning Staples here but, of course, it’s Staples that makes the song have real meaning. Together they’re an electrifying combination that are full of surprises, with both a peaceful nature as well as a wild anger bubbling to the surface.

The best example of If All I Was Was Black’s persuasive, expressive and thought provoking nature juxtaposing its uplift and inclusive style is on the delicate ‘Build a Bridge’. Staples sings "When I say my life matters/You can say yours does too/ But I betcha never have to remind anyone/ To look at it from your point of view," which is almost a self-deliberation of a song. Most of If All I Was Was Black is a debate, with a for and against and, more often than not, a solution. Staples and Tweedy channel eloquent and ardent politicians in a time where we need them most.

Of course, the lyrics are sporadically laced with displeasure. On ‘We Go High’ Staples, almost mischievously, sings: "I have a mind to bury them whole, when they go low". Likewise, on ‘Try Harder’ she declares “there's evil in me", whereas on ‘Who Told You That’ she sticks it to the man stating “Oh, they lie, and they show no shame". However, for every bit of anger shown there’s a positive call to arms for alacrity. “We’ve got work to do” Staples continually chants on the aptly titled ‘No Time for Crying’. Additionally, on ‘Peaceful Dream’, a plucky, bluesy number, Staples asks for people to “Come and share her peaceful dream”. Staples strives for community and she believes, quite rightly, the people change things together. In fact, in describing the record, Staples said she wants it to, "bring us all together as people. That's what I hope to do. You can't stop me. You can't break me. I'm too loving. These songs are going to change the world." There’s a confidence in Staples’ work and, of course, a maturity. At 78, she knows how the world works and she’s adopted the role of teacher to share her wisdom. Essentially, If All I Was Was Black is a lesson in empathy, tenderness and common sense.

Mavis Staples channels her anger at the system in the only way she knows how: with undeniable soul in the most graceful of protests. It’s a beautiful record that would have, sadly, been relevant in any decade that Staples has been active and, depressingly, is pertinent today.

Liam McMillen

Website: mavisstaples.com
Facebook: facebook.com/mavisstaples
Twitter: twitter.com/mavisstaples