Released: March 8, 2024

Genre: Experimental / Jazz

From: US

Label: Anti- Records

Why you should listen: Moor Mother’s music and art defies categorisation. Unapologetically anti-colonial and anti-capitalist, the Philadelphia-based multidisciplinary artist has been creating some of the most striking, political and experimental music I’ve listened to in the past few years – whether we’re talking about 2020’s Brass with billy woods, 2021’s Black Encyclopedia of the Air or 2023’s Jazz Codes, she’s been at the forefront of some of the most innovative and eclectic music I’ve listened to. I listened to The Great Bailout for the first time in bed at night at time of writing, headphones in, spaced out and immersed in the darkness and eeriness of the soundscapes and poems throughout the 9-track 43-minute album. The cacophony of sound, from the rumbling bass lines and synths throughout the album, to the heaviness of Moor Mother’s words, this is a stunning body of work in every sense of the word. This album is a history lesson, taking us through an education of imperialism and colonialism, a lot of it focusing on Britain and their role in creating systems of oppression and colonialism that has left people struggling to live and survive. It’s honestly a difficult album to listen to as it holds so much weight, so much history that it does make me reflect deeply on the system we live in and how to dismantle these bodies of oppression that keep human beings struggling for freedom. The 10-minute opener “GUILTY” features hypnotic vocals from Lonnie Holley and Raia Was, with gorgeous keys and strings that clench on heartstrings. It’s a cathartic, spiritual listening experience, as Moor Mother asks “did you pay off the trauma?” with a fierceness to her delivery that sounds fierce and angry. The weight and soul of this opening track is so heavy, as Lonnie’s haunting vocals with the swelling keys genuinely made be cry. “ALL THE MONEY” featuring Alya Al Sultani is a haunting track. The eerie keys, the rumbling bass and drumming throughout makes this a striking listen. Moor Mother asks rhetorically where the British empire got all its money from, which if course came from exploitation and theft of resources. Mentioning Big Ben, the Queens Crown and the British Museum, Moor Mother takes us through a history lesson, expressing exactly how despicable and evil the British Empire is. “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN” featuring justmadnice has a more refined hip-hop beat, with wind instrumentation and subtle vocals that are angelic and stunning throughout. We need to save the Queen because her life is so much more important than the rest of the peasants that live here, right? The striking honesty and openness of Moor Mother’s words pierce through poignantly. The dark, ambient “COMPENSATION EMANCIPATION’ featuring Kyle Kidd is a sonically uncomfortable track, with heavy synths and her striking words throughout that pierce through the heavy, overwhelming instrumentation. “DEATH BY LONGTITUDE” is this tribal, cacophonous and dark track with disorienting synths and sonic layers that add to the disorienting track. Fierce anti-colonial words, with frightening, urgent delivery, makes this one of the most striking tracks on the album. “Who builds death like this?” Moor Mother asks over colonial powers killing people with no remorse whatsoever. The haunting “MY SOULS BEEN ANCHORED” interlude has these synths and horn arrangements that are incredible, while on “LIVERPOOL WINS” Moor Mother’s haunting vocals speak on the lies of the British Empire via the building of institutions that include stolen works, spreading fierce mistruths in the process. The driving beat on this track as well as the heavy percussion makes it a haunting and eerie track. “SOUTH SEA” featuring Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty is another stunning moment on the album, an 8-minute track with haunting percussion and meditative horns, with soulful vocals and Moor Mother’s incredible spoken word piece. “Where is the master clock? Who watches it and keeps time? If the master clock stops, does time stop?” she asks, with other thoughts on colonial and violent power. “Sometimes the killing is silent, so silent you can almost hear the chaos of people gathering spells and curses in their head” is such a profound and striking image you can really feel every word she says. Her delivery is haunting and chilling on this track, but on the album as a whole. The horns continue to build in intensity, so do Moor Mother’s words. “SPEM IN ALIUM” closes the album out with disorienting and haunting synths, bringing this heavy and powerful album to a reflective and beautiful closer. The Great Bailout is a challenging listen, both sonically and thematically. A deeply powerful album, with so much weight and pain behind Moor Mother’s words, its striking musical exploration and education into colonial trauma, with a deep reflective sombreness and anger within the sonic soundscapes as well as the words themselves. It’s an absolutely essential listen, and one of the most striking in her already incredible discography.

The album: