Untitled (Black Is), SAULT’s new militant record
SAULT, a mysterious London-based underground collective, released Untitled (Black Is) on Juneteenth (19 June), the day that marks the abolition of slavery in the United States in 1865. The record’s twenty tracks are heavily influenced by black artists and sounds, coming together in an anthem to Black Power. The first track, Out the Lies, opens with a cry of “Revolution has come! Still won’t put down the gun”.
Black is safety, Black is benevolence, Black is a lifeboat after an SOS … and when everything else fails, Black endures.
The album is a mix of genres, from funk and soul to R&B and spoken word, all backed by powerful grooves. The openly militant record doesn’t fail to pay homage to Malcolm X: one track, aptly titled X, samples the words of the black rights activist: “The chickens have come home to roost”.