Mavis Staples - Sad And Beautiful World (Album Review)
Tuesday, 16 December 2025
Written by Jeremy Blackmore
Photo: Elizabeth De La Piedra
Mavis Staples stands as one of the defining and most enduring voices in gospel, R&B and soul, her legendary status assured having started singing in family group The Staple Singers more than seven decades ago. At the heart of ‘Sad and Beautiful World’, her 14th solo studio album, is that remarkable voice, which, at 86, exudes quiet gravitas and compassion, offering solace amid heartbreak. Her family were key players in the civil rights movement, and she sees familiar dangers today, vowing to stand alongside those who are fearful. Grim days call for fierce love, she says.
Producer Brad Cook captures the essence of Staples’ soul by building every song around her voice. It draws you in, compelling you to listen as she imparts hard-earned wisdom. The record sees her reinvent timeless songs from the great American songbook — interpretations that serve as a litany of prayer. Meanwhile the all-star cameos are testament to the esteem Staples is held in.
Kevin Morby declared her Grammy-nominated cover of his 2016 anti-gun violence hymn Beautiful Strangers the highest honour of his career, Staples imbuing it with even greater heartbreak and poignancy.
The album opens though with a rollicking cover of Tom Waits’ Chicago, propelled by saxophone stabs, duelling guitars and slide guitar. “Maybe things will be better in Chicago,” she sings. Hope is a sentiment explored further as she tackles Leonard Cohen’s Anthem, brass heralding the coming of light in the dark.
It also runs through Human Mind, an original gospel song co-written specifically for Staples by Hozier and Allison Russell, about keeping faith in humanity amid the horror of war. She declares even in these dark days, she still finds good sometimes. But the song also deals with loss, Staples reflecting with sorrow on her status as the lone surviving member of her family.
She finds comfort as she references their early hit, Will the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By), traditionally sung to help people connect with those who have passed. Everybody Needs Love, featuring slide guitar from Bonnie Raitt, was originally written by Eddie Hinton who played on records by the Staple Singers as a session guitarist at Muscle Shoals. It’s a fitting message to end the record.
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