Alabama Shakes – ‘I Must Be Dreaming’ review: protest music without the bite

The comeback album is fraught with pitfalls. Often, when a band takes a long break and finally returns with a new record, the result is overcooked and overthought, bearing all the signs of its protracted birth. This isn’t an allegation you could level at ‘I Must Be Dreaming’, Alabama Shakes’ first album in over a decade. As its name suggests, this is a laidback, dreamy collection of psychedelic-soul-influenced songs, though there are two sides to its subject matter. READ MORE: For Quiet Light, duality is a fact of life: “Everything is way more connected than we think” On the one hand, it’s a protest against America’s Trump-directed fall from grace, with the trio asking: can this actually be real? On the other, it’s a punch-drunk paean to life itself – the ethereal ‘Easy’ finds singer Brittany Howard expressing delighted disbelief that her relationship with her fiancée could be so fulfilling and secure. The tension at the heart of this record is its defining feature, as the Shakes explore the contradiction between domestic bliss and the nightmarish political climate that rages outside the front door of the proverbial happy home. The band’s music hasn’t always been this complicated. ...