Sad And Beautiful World arrives November 7 via ANTI-. The 10-track album, Staples' first since 2019's We Get By, was produced by Brad Cook and spans seven decades of the American songbook with reinventions of timeless songs and original material. The record includes a cover of Frank Ocean's "Godspeed" and features guests such as Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Tweedy, Derek Trucks, Katie Crutchfield, MJ Lenderman, and Justin Vernon. Arrangements often begin as spare drum-and-piano sketches to foreground Staples' vocals. The album emphasizes vulnerability and addresses present-day troubles while celebrating musical community and continuity.
For his part, Cook tried to keep the focus solely on Staples' vocals; the statement said that each song "began with spare skeleton recordings, just drum and piano...to never to overshadow or undermine the framework [Staples had] established." He likened the process to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will the Circle Be Unbroken with "a group of artists coming together to celebrate community - in this case, one centered on Mavis."
It's also very much a record not just about indulging the vital songs of the past, but confronting present-day troubles as Staples "stands side-by-side with us in the face of dangers she knows all too well, at a time when more and more people have reason to wonder who and what could be lost." For his part, Cook tried to keep the focus solely on Staples' vocals;
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