In an age where any information can be found at the click of a button, it is refreshing that some of the best music of 2020 is being made by people no one knows. Enigmatic group SAULT have released four albums in 18 months; two of which have come in the previous three months alone. The collective’s creativity has shown no signs of slowing down on Untitled (Rise). Balancing gospel hymns with house heaters and 80s boogie, the record is an infectious reflection of this uncanny era. Compared to its predecessor, Untitled (Black Is), Rise embodies the dance floor, with polyrhythmic tracks like ‘Fearless’ getting you grooving effortlessly.

‘I Just Want To Dance’ is a defiant, stand out cut with a distinctively linear message. Clubs may be closed, but SAULT are eager to transcend the power of clubbing spaces into this record. Allegedly, it’s Cleo Sol who lends her silvery vocals to this cut, but one can only confide in rumour, as this hasn’t been officially disclosed. The tempo withers with ‘Scary Times’, which cautiously reflects on the provocative year we’ve had. Over searing string scores and howling bass, the male vocalist murmurs subdued words of contempt for the world we live in, and it’s frankly beautiful.

SAULT sonically tap the grief, and the belief that everyone has experienced in 2020. It’s been a chaotic year, but if this LP is anything to go by, there is still hope in such an increasingly disparate era. 

Header image: SAULT’s Untitled (Rise) album artwork via The Guardian