Released: 2020
On paper Sault read more like a set of ideals than an actual thing; for much of their early career years a purposefully anonymous collective, they thumbed their noses at the idea of social media blankness as a bait, simply letting brilliant music speak for them instead.
In one way the construct served as a trigger to ask us collectively, if modern day fandom allows consumers to project onto any other human whatever values we feel, what purpose do celebrities, pop stars, influencers et al truly serve, beyond advertising?
You can follow that theory down all the existential rabbit holes you want, or you can just embrace Free, taken from Untitled (Rise) – one of a pair of phenomenally lit double albums released in 2020 – as the lofty early twenties peak of British soul music. It helped that every note felt so effortless, the gospel soaked chorus peaking somewhere listeners felt only luck and hope could get them. On paper they sounded perfect. On record, Sault were something better than that.
The Voice Of Unreason 