Brittany Howard has shared an acoustic performance of “Short and Sweet”. The song comes from the Alabama Shakes singer’s 2019 debut solo record, Jaimie.
The video follows Howard’s Spotify Singles—which heard her debut a cover of Funkadelic‘s “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks” along with a reworked rendition of her own “Stay High”—as her most recent output since Jaimie.
Related: Terry Crews Stars In Video For Brittany Howard’s Uplifting New Single, “Stay High” [Watch]
The video depicts Howard alone, sitting in a simple wood chair in a field of tall grass. While she is equipped with an acoustic guitar, the instrument mainly functions to accompany, rather than to augment, the performance. The focus here is on Howard’s singing, which is done with such delicacy that even the gentlest strums of the guitar with her thumb can be clearly heard. While the song’s original version on the album does sound similar, with a familiar emphasis on the fragile nature of Howard’s singing, this new version strips away any of the added production value of the studio. Instead, viewers are left to confront Howard face to face as she carefully handles the eggshell that is her voice.
Watch Brittany Howard perform a solo, acoustic version of “Short and Sweet”.
Brittany Howard — “Short and Sweet”
[Video: Brittany Howard]
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.
[H/T Jambase]