Son Little – New Single ‘Whip The Wind’ – New Album ‘Cityfolk’ out This Friday
By Son Little
New Single ‘Whip The Wind’ Out Now
New Album ‘Cityfolk’ Out This Friday
UK Shows April – London’s Jazz Cafe Sold Out
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. Listen below.
Listen To ‘Whip The Wind’ Spotify And Youtube
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 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.”
Next month, Little will continue to travel the world and seek new experiences, including a UK tour that begins on the 19th April in Brighton. All upcoming dates are listed below.
Tickets are available here https://sonlittle.com/tour
Tour Dates
April 19th – Brighton and Hove @ DUST
April 20th – Bristol @ Strange Brew
April 21st – Manchester @ Band on the Wall
April 22nd – London @ Jazz Cafe – SOLD OUT April 23rd – London @ One Ninety Four – NEW DATE
Pre-Save ‘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