SAULT - Chapter 1

After the exit of Little Simz, who severed the collaboration and launched inevitable legal action (reportedly over a million pounds lent and never repaid), Sault have remained essentially a family affair. London producer Inflo, the mastermind of the collective, and Cleo Sol, the female voice most often featured, are in fact also a long-established couple in real life. Sault are no longer shrouded in mystery, no longer hiding behind too many intriguing secrets, no longer a faceless idea, but they keep up their strategy of releasing albums by surprise, with no advance notice, no promotional campaigns, no press releases to back them up - something that happened again on Friday, January 9, 2026, with "Chapter 1", a title that - as usual - defies any mathematical logic, since it's actually the fifteenth instalment of a discography that in under seven years has produced no fewer than thirteen albums and two EPs.

Sure, when their records used to come out on a wave of outrage over some tragic news event, as with the brutal murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis (followed in June 2020 by "Untitled - Black Is"), it felt like witnessing a narrative unfold live, something special. Now Sault's records seem instead to come off an assembly line ready to churn out product every few months. And when the period is especially prolific, you even get five releases at once, as happened on November 1, 2022.

In truth, the reflection of current events in their lyrics somehow remains, albeit less explicitly: "Chapter 1" actually opens with a prayer, "God, Protect Me From My Enemies" (the instrumental intro is sumptuous), an invocation behind which, without needing too much imagination, one can glimpse the wounds of the endless war being fought in the Gaza Strip, the massacre currently unfolding in Iran, and the conflict in Ukraine. Because Sault want to be a collective voice, they want to be a spiritual language. The goal is hit once again, thanks to exquisitely refined compositions that dwell on themes of faith and spirit, arranged with a generous deployment of strings and the effective aesthetic choice of pushing the bass pulse to the forefront of the final mix. A choice that lends groove not only to the more rhythmic tracks (the title track, built on a solid guitar foundation, and the closing "Puppet", the most unconventional piece, sung by Melissa Young), but also to the more enveloping ones (the elegant, seductive "Good Things Will Come After The Pressure" and "Lord Have Marcy", two examples of top-quality songwriting).

Stylistically, this time Sault immerse themselves in a Seventies soul-funk mood, crafting a decidedly cool, relaxed atmosphere, an ever-engaging vintage sound, with dynamic ripples stepping in to provide the right discontinuities. Inflo's ideas draw generously from decades of Black culture, showing taste and expertise, keeping the Afrocentric memory alive and continuing to produce modern crash courses in the history of soul music.

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15/01/2026