Ahead of this Friday’s release of his new album CITYFOLK, Son Little is sharing the album track ‘Whip the Wind’ today. ‘Whip the Wind’ grooves with Afro-Latin polyrhythms, its hook driven by a constant shaker and a silky synth melody that recalls early-1970s Stevie Wonder. But the song sticks to Little’s true form: despite its danceable feeling, the song is a call to recognise the human cost of power before it’s too late.
Praise for Son Little
“Son Little is one of the best songwriters working today. He’s honest, unique, thorough, and subtly elaborate. His voice slinks in through the spheres and suddenly he’s inside your soul, telling you the lay of the land.” – American Songwriter
Although often placed in the category of “roots musician”, on CITYFOLK, Little, who NPR praised for having “impeccably crafted songs,” continues to defy genre but lets the evocation of his storytelling pierce through. “The industry likes to keep artists in little boxes, and for Black artists it has meant being defined by your proximity to ‘urban,’” Little admits. “But my music has always had had flashes of country, rock and folk, as well as hip-hop, blues and R&B. So I’ve always struggled as an artist who kind of, I think, lives in the spaces between genres.”
This album is also an opportunity for listeners to discover Little as more than a vocalist, but a well-rounded artist who carefully balances DIY production, songwriting and vocal arranging. Now living outside of Atlanta, Livingston attributes the development of CITYFOLK to going even further south to record in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in January 2025. It was there that Little, whose past collaborations include The Roots and RJD2, connected with two-time Grammy-winning musician and Alabama Shakes band member Ben Tanner to flesh out sketches of songs that he’d crafted through epiphanies about his family’s roots.
In the late 1960s, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios housed unbridling protest anthems and melodious love songs that would become the classics of tomorrow. Little’s CITYFOLK is a relic in the musical path paved for him.
“Its whole reputation and businesses are thriving because of the spirit of unity,” Little says of the small Alabama town. “I mean, it’s all due to music that was created in defiance of that legacy. It’s a place that I think really is a symbol of what can be accomplished when those barriers are broken down.”
Son Little
CITYFOLK
1. Rabbit
2. Whip The Wind
3. Let’s Get Involved
4. It’s Your World
5. Cherry
6. Bottomless
7. Be Better
8. The Valley
9. In Orbit
10. Paper Children
11. Breathe
https://sonlittle.com/
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