National treasure Mavis Staple prized us with a new release “We Get By”. Out of the gate she takes our senses by storm with “Change”. The centerpiece guitar lick matches her soulful musings. Mavis’s voice is so ingratiating. We are in her living room as she converses her optimistic philosophy. The pristine arrangements played by exceptional musicianship moves this collection to one of the top 2019 releases. The ageless voice takes us on her journey of love and faith. On the title track “We Get By” the joyous line “We get by with a smile on our face.” covers a multitude of sins. In “Heavy on My Mind” she calms us as she sings “Hearing from all around Telling us there’s nothing to fear.” In “Never Needed Anyone” she talks about regret. “Now all that we are is the living ghost of our youth.” And when Mavis declares on “Chance on Me” _ “Don’t need a symphony, I just need one violin” how can we say no? On “Hard to Leave” we are in Adele territory with Mavis bleeding the emotion of “How’ve you been You Haven’t aged a day”. On the final tune she summarizes with “Believing too deep to not have faith But I’ve got just one more change to make.”

Mavis Staples – “We Get By” (feat. Ben Harper) – YouTube

Mavis Staples – Wikipedia