''Sound & Color'' is the second and final

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American band Alabama Shakes. It was released on April 17, 2015 via ATO Records. ''Sound & Color'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the U.S., giving the band their first chart-topper; globally, the album hit the top ten in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The album was also a critical success and was nominated six

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

s, winning four for Best Alternative Music Album,

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

, as well as

Best Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide it is designed for s ...

and Best Rock Song for "

Don't Wanna Fight "Don't Wanna Fight" is a song performed by American rock band Alabama Shakes, issued as the lead single from the band's second studio album ''Sound & Color''. The band performed the song live for the first time on February 28, 2015 on ''Saturday ...

". It spawned four singles; "Don't Wanna Fight" was the most successful, peaking at number two on ''Billboard'' Adult Alternative Songs chart.

Background

Alabama Shakes began recording their second album in late 2013. The group listened to anything and everything for influence, without regard for its public reception in the end. They spent over a year in the studio, with no clear end-goal, as they had not written any new songs due to their exhaustive touring schedule. ''Sound & Color'' is steeped in several different genres, touching on

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...

to bands such as

MC5 MC5, also commonly called The MC5, is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The original line-up consisted of Rob Tyner (vocals) Wayne Kramer (guitar), Fred "Sonic" Smith (guitar), Michael Davis (bass), and Dennis ...

. In promotion of ''Sound & Color'', the group appeared on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' on February 28, 2015; they performed the singles " Gimme All Your Love" and "

". The title song, "Sound & Color", was used in the final episode of the first season of ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression and dissociative ...

''. In 2017, the song "This Feeling" was used in the first season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

miniseries '' Big Little Lies'', and in 2019, it was used in the end scene of the final episode of the British TV show '' Fleabag''. The song "Sound & Color" was used in the end credits of the 2019 film ''

Waves Waves most often refers to: *Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music * Waves (ban ...

'', directed by

Trey Edward Shults Trey Edward Shults (born October 6, 1988) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. He is best known as the director and writer of the drama film, drama ''Krisha'' (2015), the psychological horror film ''It Comes at Night'' (201 ...

and produced by

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

. "Don't Wanna Fight" was used in the 2019 film ''

Just Mercy ''Just Mercy'' is a 2019 American biographical legal drama film co-written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson, Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian, Rob Morgan, Tim Blake Nelson, Rafe Spall, an ...

''. A deluxe edition of the album was released on October 29, 2021, featuring three

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

s and four live recordings. The live recording of "Future People" was released as a promotional single on September 29, 2021.

Composition

"A genuine Americana love letter", ''Sound & Color'' is rooted in Southern rock and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

. It has also been noted for making roots rock "a surprise again". Yet despite being rooted in these genres, ''Sound & Color'' includes some of the quartet's most eclectic and experimental songs to date. It features sounds of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, garage punk, punk rock, swamp rock, and talking blues. Its songs have been compared to musicians like Erykah Badu and Curtis Mayfield and bands like

and the Strokes. The "engrossing" "Guess Who" explores

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

sounds. The "ballistic" "The Greatest" takes on

cowpunk Cowpunk (or country punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s - early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New wave music, new wave with country music, country, folk music, folk, and b ...

like that of the Meat Puppets, as well as

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

, new wave,

proto-punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music played mostly by garage bands from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock movement. The phrase is a retrospective label; the musicians involved were generally not originally associated wit ...

, and "no-frills"

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

. A "fun little bash" is made out of the fusion of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

and

on "Shoegaze". Both songs have also been noted as

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

. ''Sound & Color'' digs its heels into more psychedelia-based stylings, from the "slow-burning"

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

of "Dunes" to the "celestial" psychedelic funk of " Future People". "Gemini", the record's longest song, changes between "smooth R&B and stoner- desert rock" while journeying into "zero-gravity"

Commercial performance

The album debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, earning 97,000 album-equivalent units (91,000 copies of traditional album sales) in its first week, in the week ending April 26, 2015, making it the band's first number one album. The album has sold 306,000 copies in the US as of December 2015.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Sound & Color'' received positive reviews. At the review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the album currently holds a score of 80 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', Andrea Warner called the record a "deliberately weird record, but authentically weird; it's chaotic yet cohesive, full of sound, colour and unshakable vision." Barry Nicholson of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' compared it favorably to the band's first album, writing, "whereas their debut was cast in sepia hues and downhome earthiness, its follow-up is a more kaleidoscopic affair."

Accolades

''Sound & Color'' garnered six nominations at the

58th Annual Grammy Awards The 58th Annual Grammy Awards was held on February 15, 2016, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognizes the best recordings, compositions and artists of the eligibility year, which was from October 1, 2014, to September 30, 20 ...

; it was nominated for the

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, marking the group's first nomination in the category. The album was also nominated for Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical (Blake Mills), and won Best Alternative Music Album,

(Shawn Everett and Bob Ludwig). "Don't Wanna Fight" won for

and Best Rock Song.

Semester-end lists

Year-end lists

* denotes an unordered list

Decade-end lists

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Sound & Color'' liner notes. Alabama Shakes * Brittany Howard − vocals , guitar , vibraphone , percussion , keyboards ; string arrangement * Heath Fogg − guitar , percussion * Zac Cockrell − bass , percussion * Steve Johnson − drums , percussion Additional musicians * Ben Tanner − keyboards , vibraphone , percussion * Paul Horton − keyboards * Rob Moose − string arrangements Production * Alabama Shakes − production *

Blake Mills Blake Mills (born September 21, 1986) is an American songwriter, guitarist, producer, and composer based in California. Biography Blake Mills was born in Santa Monica, California, United States, and grew up in Malibu, where he attended Malibu ...

− production, percussion , guitar , vibraphone *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

− mastering *

Shawn Everett Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards. Early life Ever ...

− mixing, engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sound and Color 2015 albums Alabama Shakes albums ATO Records albums Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical MapleMusic Recordings albums Rough Trade Records albums Albums produced by Blake Mills