Brittany Howard Finds Her Solo Groove With the Fiery ‘What Now’: Album Review
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Brittany Howard is not one for the easy path. A dozen-odd years ago, she burst onto the scene as the fiery lead singer of Alabama Shakes, a rootsy combo that brought hope to rock fans, just as the uneasy realization set in that there weren’t many interesting traditional rock bands coming up anymore.
The group’s greasy grooves fit into any number of musical contexts — they opened for artists from Jack White to jam bands and stole the show at any number of festivals — and their debut release set the stage for the galvanizing 2015 follow-up, “Sound & Color.” By the time the Shakes finished that album’s cycle, they’d won four Grammys and become one of the world’s major rock bands.
All Howard had to do was follow that arrow, and a long, multiplatinum career seemed all but guaranteed. However, that’s exactly what she decided not to do.
Howard embarked on a solo career as the group went on hiatus (although Shakes bassist Zac Cockrell and touring keyboardist Paul Horton remain with her), releasing a challenging 2019 album called “Jaime” that explored multiple genres and rarely stayed in one place for long.
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