For the previous a number of years, Sunny Battle has been discovering her voice and refining her mix of acoustic road punk-poetry on a sequence of sparse West Coast albums, starting with 2018’s With The Solar up by her most up-to-date report, 2021’s Easy Syrup, which marked a serious step ahead for the Nashville-via-SoCal singer-songwriter. These information, which launched Battle as an eclectic gatherer of far-reaching musical influences, earned Battle accolades and opening slots for everybody from Valerie June to Keb’ Mo’.
Battle has at all times drawn from quite a lot of traditions (Eighties hardcore, Delta Blues, Seventies singer-songwriter, folks busking). However by no means earlier than have all these types sounded extra seamlessly built-in than on Anarchist Gospel, her newest LP. On the gathering, Battle (born Sydney Lyndella Ward) synthesizes these genres into her very personal distinct sound, from the murky swamp grooves (“Swear to Gawd”), heat nation devotionals (“His Love”), and textured, hand-clapped electrical blues (“Shelter And Storm”).
The report represents a homecoming of types for Battle, a Nashville native, who teamed up with Andrija Tokic, a producer whose elegant contact refined and redirected the twentieth century influences of everybody from Alabama Shakes to Hurray for the Riff Raff. Backed by a powerhouse group of musicians that features David Rawlings, Allison Russell, and Dennis Crouch, Battle leads the band along with her rollicking rock riff on “No Motive,” her rootsy, reverent cowl of Ween’s “Child Bitch” earlier than stripping issues down for the sparse, delicate balladry of “Candy Nothing.”
Battle is a cheap songwriter, telling vivid tales in snappy, sub-three minute songs, however her writing feels extra centered and pronounced than ever this time round: “Will I survive the conflict inside my head?” she sings within the opening line of “I Bought No Struggle,” establishing a universe of anguish and alienation with eight fast phrases. Elsewhere on, “Swear To Gawd,” (co-written with singer-songwriter Chris Pierce) she gives some a masterful character examine in her portrait of a father or mother unable to wrestle management of unruly youngsters.
Taken as an entire, Anarchist Gospel is a robust assertion from a singer-songwriter poised to turn into one of many yr’s most important voices in roots music.
