Brittany Howard has shared a cover of “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks” by Funkadelic as well as a new interpretation of her own “Stay High”.
The two songs come as the Alabama Shakes singer’s contribution to the Spotify Singles program. This marks Howard’s first studio output since the release of her debut solo album, Jaime, this past September.
The “A-Side” features an alternate version of “Stay High” from Jaime. While the song was already a slow-burning jam to begin with (and also featured a great music video with Terry Crews lip-syncing the entire song), Howard broke it down even further into this new sensual single. This updated version is even more simplistic, with the original’s acoustic guitar and bells dropping out. Instead, the focus is now entirely on Howard’s vocals, for the slim chance you weren’t paying attention the first time around. One of the main differences is how much of the percussion drops away; in the original cut there are layers of clapping, drums, and other percussive means, but on the Spotify Singles edition there’s just a reverberated wooden beat dropping on the two and four.
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Over on the “B-Side”, we have Howard’s interpretation of “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks” from the 1971 Funkadelic classic, Maggot Brain. On this track, Howard stays fairly true to cannon, keeping the heavy instrumentation that fills the song. Even with Howard’s filtered voice, this song sounds like a remastered version of the 1971 tune — like it got transferred from VHS to DVD, it’s sleek and smooth. Howard’s voice is the key difference between the remake and the original, bringing the song about the reciprocation of love into a modern context.
Listen to “Stay High” and “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks” from Brittany Howard on Spotify.
Brittany Howard – “Stay High”/ “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks” (Funkadelic)
Howard was due to be out on tour right now, but the outbreak of COVID-19 has put an effective halt to her, and everyone else’s, touring plans. A note on her website states that most of her tour dates have been rescheduled for August and September. As for the Alabama Shakes, when Howard set off to record Jaime in 2019, she reportedly told the rest of the band that they would not be producing a follow-up to 2015’s Sound & Color anytime soon. Fans can dream, however.