RHIANNON GIDDENS

Giddens proves that roots music has the punch & power to remain relevant and thought-provoking in the modern day (a killer feature from Jason Isbell helps too).

Soulful, beautiful and incredibly moving

Giddens made 'You’re the One' with some of her closest musical collaborators from the past decade, including her partner, Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, plus multi-instrumentalist Dirk Powell, bassist Jason Sypher, and Congolese guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. The album features electric and upright bass, conga, Cajun and Piano accordions, guitars, a Western string section, and Miami horns, among other instruments, capturing the inclusive spirit that channels through all of her work.

"I hope that people just hear American music," Giddens says. "Blues, jazz, Cajun, country, gospel, and rock – it's all there. I like to be where it meets organically. They're fun songs, and I wanted them to have as much of a chance as they could to reach people who might dig them but don't know anything about what I do. If they're introduced to me through this record, they might go listen to other music I've made and make some new discoveries.”

'You’re the One' opens with ‘Too Little, Too Late, Too Bad’, an R&B blast (complete with background "shoops" and horns) that takes a titan for inspiration. "I listened to a bunch of Aretha Franklin, and then turned to fellow Aretha-nut Dirk Powell and said, ‘Let’s write a song she might have sung!'" Giddens recalls. Her danceable, vivacious tribute to Franklin's sound is a vocal showcase, spotlighting her soaring high notes and nearly-growling low ones. Another highlight, ‘If You Don't Know How Sweet It Is', intentionally puts an edgier spin on the sass of Dolly Parton's early work.

The lead track from the album – its title track ‘You’re the One’ – was inspired by a moment Giddens had with her son not long after he was born (he's now ten years old, and she also has a fourteen-year-old daughter). "Your life has changed forever, and you don't know it until you're in the middle of it and it hits you," Giddens says. "I held his little cheek up to my face, and was just reminded, 'Oh my God, my children – they have every bit of my heart.'"

One of the album's most powerful moments is ‘Another Wasted Life’, inspired by the tragic story of Kalief Browder, who was incarcerated on Rikers Island for three years without trial. The lone featured guest on the album is Jason Isbell on ‘Yet to Be’, the story of a Black woman and an Irish man falling in love in America.