Alabama Shakes are back and have torn up the textbooks with their latest track ‘Don’t Wanna Fight’. A song that is motivated by angst yet executed with power, the band’s unexpected return to the music scene sees them add a new dimension to their joyous sound mastered in their 2012 debut album Boys & Girls. Indeed, if their first album was an invitation into a window of love and heartbreak, ‘Don’t Wanna Fight’ sees them liberated, asserting a new found authority over their lover and their listener too.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-5OX7CO26c?rel=0]
Dominated by a bass line that snakes its way around your mind, an array of bluesy guitar lines and Brittany Howard’s authoritative vocals combine to act as an artillery of sound. Always slick and never pausing for breath, Alabama Shakes have created the perfect song that demands to should be shouted from the roof tops, whispered in a smoke-filled bar and carried through the night on the cusps of the wind. Gone are the days where the band are going to let their hearts get trampled on – as Howard screeches: “my life / your life / don’t cross them lines”.
Alabama Shakes have returned with a vengeance and, sounding this strong, their next album looks to take the law into their own hands. A long awaited and triumphant return. Alabama, we are yours.
Words by Juliette Rowsell