In the early days of 2023, Shabaka Hutchings announced he’d be putting down his saxophone. This meant curtains or an indefinite hiatus for his celebrated jazz bands Sons of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming, and a flute-heavy palette for his debut full-length as a leader, 2024’s Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace. But one of the first melodies you hear on Of the Earth’s opening track, “A Future Untold,” comes from a horn. True, it’s played low and slow, and is introduced by a floating spiral of synth, flute, and chimes, riding the edge of the track’s rubato rotation like a leaf on the edge of a whirlpool. It’s a far cry from even the mellowest moments of Shabaka’s prior work with the instrument, but it’s still a saxophone, and the London musician’s cutting, richly hued tone remains as aggressively contemplative as ever.
Just because Shabaka has returned to old ways, however, doesn’t make Of the Earth a step back. In several respects, it marks a continuation of his unpredictable, idiosyncratic journey, and yet another sharp departure from his previous path. While Perceive Its Beauty featured a cornucopia of guest-stars, Of the Earth is a profoundly solo affair, with every instrument, beat, and soundscape fashioned by Shabaka. Suave hip-hop rhythms animate tracks like “Those of the Sky” and “Dance in Praise,” and Shabaka makes his debut as an emcee on “Go Astray” and album closer “Eyes Lowered,” rapping with a methodical, almost methodical, tracelike flow that can obscure an unexpected levity—”Go Astray” appears to quote Enya. But Shabaka’s former collaborator and fellow flute fanatic André 3000 shouldn’t worry yet—the vocals on Of the Earth feel like an offshoot of Shabaka’s newfound interest in production, rather than the point.
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The main source of Of the Earth‘s appeal lies not in its reeds or its bars but in its construction, a balance of meticulously assembled layers and roughshod techniques. The intricate “Those of the Sky” mixes loops, sequencers, and sampled birdsong with flute and sax melodies in precise calibration. But just as all the elements really begin to dance, it cuts off, as if the tape had run out or a switch had been suddenly flipped. A bracing bit of informality, it injects some haphazard spontaneity into what’s otherwise a very precise sound world. Shabaka’s beats likewise have a bluntly casual, bouncing quality, as on the weighty foursquare thump that erupts in the middle of “Step Lightly,” or the handball-like ricochet of “Ol’ Time African Gods.” But they can also move with surprising poise, as on “Light the Way,” which has the feline momentum of Autechre or Aphex Twin, but with flutes providing the hooks instead of synthesizers.
Shabaka’s trajectory so far has been the product of both determination and restlessness, a series of drastic shifts carried out with deliberate purpose. Of the Earth, the first release on Shabaka’s own label, could be a fruitful new beginning, a temporary detour or a jumping-off point to something else entirely. Whatever the case, it’s another step toward wherever Shabaka needs to go.
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