Brittany Howard is the truest form of an artist. You’d be hard-pressed to think of another musician with the ability to move between projects and sounds with such fluidity and ease. Howard made a name for herself with the lauded Southern soul-rock of Alabama Shakes, branching off to explore folk, punk and everything in between before releasing her first solo album Jaime in 2019. The follow-up What Now came out in February, stretching Howard’s territory into new worlds with influences from dance music to meditation. The Scene sat down with her on a cloudy Monday in late November to discuss the Grammy-nominated LP, her creative process and what she’s trying next. (Of note, shortly before our conversation, Howard got engaged.) Our interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The record opens with “Earth Sign.” Are you an astrology person? I know you aren’t a religious person, but you seem quite spiritual.
Yeah, I was trying to do a little spell. You know, I believe in manifestation, sure, but I also believe you’ve got to be in that energy to receive that same energy back. So I was like: “I’m going to write a song that’s going to go at the top of my record, so when I perform live I’m going to do it first. And it’s going to be like I’m putting all this energy into these words, and then the crowd will sing it back.” And that’s a lot of energy, a lot of vibration. Because I was trying to meet me an earth sign, ’cause I was like, “I need somebody that’s dependable — they get things done, very grounded.” And I think it worked!
If I remember correctly, you don’t sing the lyric “what now” in the song “What Now” or anywhere else on the record. How did you decide on that title for the track and the album?
“What Now” means a lot of different things. When I was creating the track “What Now,” the song kind of felt like exhaustion. There’s like this mechanical element to it — it’s very locomotive. I was just getting to the point of, “I don’t know what to do, I’m very stressed, I’m very anxious, what’s going to happen next?” That song in particular was kind of just about, like, not a singular relationship, but just being at that point in your relationship where it’s completely zapped and you don’t know what to do. … “Should I leave, should I stay? How do I make it work? Who have I become here?”
For the record, it was just like, to me, every song is very different from the next, and it’s kind of like you don’t know what to expect next. And so, within as without — within the world, you don’t know what to expect next. Because at the time, it was in the pandemic, Black Lives Matter was marching in the streets, police brutality against protesters, you’ve got guys with guns walking around not minding their business — I don’t know what they were doing. In Kenosha, people just shooting each other. It was crazy. And then Donald Trump. [Laughs] It was wild times. … Still wild. I think it’s going to get weirder and weirder.
My impression of Jaime was that you were looking in the moment and into the past, and on What Now you’re in the moment and looking forward. Is that something that resonates with you?
I think that’s partially true. I feel like Jaime for me was me getting to introduce myself more authentically — this is me, not necessarily Alabama Shakes, but Brittany Howard. “This is where I’m from, this is what I’m about, and this is what means a lot to me.” With What Now, it was more like I got to go through a lot of my different emotions, especially when it comes to getting through relationships. Because we learn most of our lessons in relationships with others, right? So it was just talking about all the things that I’ve learned, all the things I would like to see, and of course, there’s also just putting hope in the air for me.
I know that it’s translated to help a lot of other people too, which is great — that’s what you want. But for me, it was, “Who am I, how do I get through this, and what do I still believe in?” Because I think that matters. A song like “Another Day,” that was me being, like, “You know, the world isn’t all on fire.” I really believe there’s more light in the world than there is darkness in the world. Even though both have to exist, I don’t think it’s equally proportionate.
There’s a song on the record called “Samson.” Throughout your work, you’ve made many biblical allusions. I understand the reference to the story of Samson and Delilah, but where were you going with it?
So in that story, I feel like Delilah was telling him, “I’m trying to betray you,” over and over again, and Samson just kept letting her do it. It was like this weird dance between them.
“Samson” was one of these songs I didn’t really expect to happen. I didn’t really have lyrics for it. It’s kind of hard to believe, but I only had this one piano riff that repeats throughout the song and that was it. And I had this drum beat that I had, the drum is kind of off-kilter, and to me, it made the piano riff interesting so I repeated that. I had this really good trumpet player Rod McGaha come in and play on it, and I was still in the studio trying to figure out what it was. Then I just went into the vocal booth and … I guess the best way I can describe it is, I’m in this room and there’s four speakers on the floor. It had a binaural microphone, which looks like a head, and I had this mixer that I’ve had for a long time. So basically what we’d do is live dubbing, which is where I’m mixing the song live and then I’m supposed to sing at the same time. I’ve got no lyrics so it’s really just off the top of the head. Luckily I had something that sounded like a hook, and luckily I was able to remember it, so we were kind of able to put it together instantaneously. Calling the song “Samson” just sounded like the appropriate title, after someone being kind of unable to make a decision about what to do.
The last song on the album is “Every Color in Blue.” I love the imagery of that title. Is color theory something you think about and incorporate into your creative process?
Largely, yeah. I mean to me, music and color are the same thing. Painting, making a song — it’s just putting together different frequencies that we can pick up.
“Every Color in Blue” is a song talking about depression and how you go through life and there’s just a shorter range of emotions that can be felt — not all the time, but sometimes. It’s like your high highs aren’t as high as these other people’s, and your low lows might be lower than other people’s, and your excitement exists within this spectrum. I was just trying to find a way to write about it that wasn’t so, “I’m sad!” and speak about it a little more realistically, which is just that I’m existing with less dopamine, and this is what it looks like.
Recently you announced a hardcore benefit show with a new project called Kumite coming Jan. 12 at The Basement East. I’m so excited for that!
I’m excited too because I’ve never done this type of thing before. I’ve always been a fan of hardcore music since I was in middle school, and it’s the kind of group I’ve always wanted to be in — I just couldn’t find the players. And then Alabama Shakes happened, and I just couldn’t find my footing in there.
And so what we’re doing is putting on a community fundraiser, if you will; it’s a show and we’re having some sick bands. We’ve got Snooper, who’s super dope, coming out, we have Second Spirit … that’s my friend Jared who plays with Alanna Royale, Alanna Royale’s husband. He’s awesome, he’s got Second Spirit, and they’ll also be backing me as Kumite. We also got Inner Peace, who is super sick. He’s like a really good rapper, Draco is his name, and he also has this hardcore act, which is awesome. So we’ve got lots of people of color in the room, and we’re raising money for Launch Pad, we’re raising money for Second Harvest, and we’re raising money for Southern Movement Committee.
We wanted to put this together, me and my fiancée, because we were nervous about what was going to happen with the election, and it’s already kind of nervy living here being somebody who’s different. I’m very much a live-and-let-live type of person, but not everybody sees it that way, and we’ve got to share votes and share space.
We live in a red state, and in this community we’ve really got to look out for each other. The government, for whatever reason, they’re always trying to reach into our lives, and so that’s the whole thing of why we’re putting it on. I just want to make people feel good, feel protected, feel like you still have a place here — because this is my home. The South is my home, and we’ve always had to fight, for generations. That’s what we’re going to do, and I’m excited to do that.
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