All that restless energy brings us to Cry Baby, Staples’ seventh studio album and liveliest to date. That’s to be taken literally – the tracks are built up almost entirely of live instrumentals, from bare boned rock to strutting funk to louche, danceable indie. The sense of in-the-room momentum brings a new side out of Staples. His default mode is a world weary distance; here, he’s often forced to keep tempo with his players. “The Running Man”’s stripped back soundscape has Staples barking like a rock band frontman, while the Slick Rick-sampling “The Big Bad Wolf” puts his dexterity to the test as he rhymes over some of the album’s best grooves.
But while the vibes are less obviously murky than much of
Staples’ earlier work, he remains just as conscious in his content.
Opener “Blackberry Marmalade” punctuates driving riffs with the chant
“Promise me you won’t gun me down,” while “Go! Go! Gorilla” strips back
the instrumental to bare bones to allow Staples the space for his most
fleet footed raps: “I was 12 years old when they tried to sit me on the
curb / I got chokeslammed / for resisting arrest from a grown man.”
Perhaps the most fully realised cut is “Do You Know The Devil”, which
marries Staples’ cold, affectless flow with dense, Eddie Hazel-esque
guitars for a high point in this full band experiment.
If Cry Baby doesn’t reach the levels of Big Fish Theory or Ramona Park,
it’s another string to Staples’ bow and then some. The new approach
feels fresh and revitalising, without toning down the artist’s gift for
fiery rhetoric. “Thoughtful summer jams” might sound unappealing on
principle, but in this case at least, it’s a winner.
