George HaffendenRejoice! For the legendary Mavis Staples is to release a new E.P on Anti Records on April 21st. It is the first collaboration between Staples and ‘soul explorer’ Son Little, and marks a new period for Staples after her successful work with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco on You Are Not Alone and One True Vine.
Fifty years into her career and Mavis Staples’ voice is still as powerful as ever. Certainly, she is a little deeper than she once was, but having seen her live last year on her 75th birthday at the Union Chapel in London it’s safe to say she can still hold her own. Whisper it quietly, but she may sound better today at 75 than Aretha Franklin does at 72.
The first single released, and available to listen to below on SoundCloud, sees Staples depart from the Tweedy formula of her last two albums. The song has modern soul beat driven by the bass, similar to that which Adrian Younge provided for William Hart of The Delfonics a few years back. Yet the Tweedy formula of a stripped back track remains, and this fits Staples perfectly. When you’ve got one of the greatest vocalists of all time at your disposal, why hide that voice behind an overly complex instrumental? ‘Your Good Fortune’ is an exciting new release from Mavis Staples, and we wait with delight and excitement for the release of the full E.P.