Listen to this track by former Alabama Shakes vocalist and guitarist turned stylistically exploratory solo artist Brittany Howard. It’s “13th Century Metal”, a cut from her 2019 debut record Jaime. The album’s title is in tribute to Howard’s late older sister who died at the tender age of 13. Jaime remains to be a beloved figure who helped inspire her younger sister to express herself through art, including songwriting.

The title of this particular song refers to its imposing feel as defined by its author, inspired in part by Gregorian chants of the 13th century. Maybe this is what the equivalent of heavy metal might have been in a time in history when “iron maiden” was a perhaps a more literal reference than it would be later on. Yet to that point, the title also evokes images of smiths, anvils, bellows, hammers, tongs, and the creation of forged implements. These were put through the fire to make them sturdier, hardier, and more resilient to do what they were designed to do. In this context “metal” and “mettle” turn out to be pretty interchangeable.

There are definite parallels to be found here from an artist who has undergone a similar forging process to temper her to do what she does. As Alabama Shakes broke out on the international scene in the early 2010s, Brittany Howard showed herself to be a formidable musician across a spectrum of classic rock music traditions from Muscle Shoals to Headley Grange. This song blurs stylistic lines even beyond that of her former band, establishing her approach to genres as paints in a paintbox, not the box itself.

Apart from that, the lyrical content of the song and its presentation is less like a rock single, and more like a sound collage to accompany a manifesto about how the artist perceives the world and herself as a person living in it. In kicking off Howard’s solo career, “13th Century Metal” serves as a kind of central statement to define herself in a new phase of life and career, suggesting the emotional context that applies the most resonantly to the material that she’s putting out under her own name. At the same time, this centerpiece of Brittany Howard’s debut record is not all about the artist. “13th Century Metal” is also a unique invitation to us listeners, too. More on that in a bit.

In the meantime, this tune also represents a new approach to making music as differentiated from Howard’s earlier output with the band. The sound on this song and on the rest of the record diverges from the hard rock with classic soul flourishes of Alabama Shakes. This is not necessarily a means to distance herself from a former sound. It’s more of a product of her enthusiasm. The writing and recording process evidently found Howard like a kid in a candy store. The process pulled her in a number of directions as she worked on material as she was finding out for herself what the record was going to sound like only in increments.

Here on this song, electronics, production effects, woozy psychedelia, and sampled break beats take the place of muscular rock guitar riffs and soul inflections, although still with a Bonham-like percussive weight to anchor it. “13th Century Metal” suggests the sounds of the church, but in a different way than is reflected in her past classic soul references. Instead, this song features an echoey spoken word delivery imbued with MLK civil rights-era rhetorical passion. In this, it initially comes off like a sermon to the congregation of all humanity amidst the chaotic noise of the 21st century. Howard’s voice only just rises above the din with a whiff of desperation and even terror.

As for the invitation she’s extending in “13th Century Metal”, Howard’s message is simple enough: we are all brothers and sisters, so do the best you can to be kind to your fellow man. Give it to love. It feels like a good deal of this advice is aimed at herself as much as anyone. All told, “13th Century Metal” is the sound of a person making a decision about the kind of human being she wants to be. We, as her audience, bear witness. Among other things of course, this is a great theme for a debut solo record. Yet in this, the song isn’t really a sermon at all. It’s an acknowledgement of her own self-doubt as met by her determination as a person who’s climbing the same hills we all are.

As much as this song sounds like the herald to a new era for Howard as a solo artist and as an individual, it also suggests that the world itself was moving toward something new along with her. Within its lines, it captures the emotional undercurrents and political headwinds of the time when paradigms were shifting. The mid to late 2010s were fraught with shocking rhetoric around class, race, gender, human rights, violence, sexuality and any number of other issues. Wrongful deaths and riots blighted the landscape. News headlines shocked us to the point of disbelief along with the think pieces and social media diatribes that followed. In the same way that is true today, we had to gird ourselves for what might come next.

That period contained the beginnings of the uncertainty that has since given way to downright destructive narratives that are so uncomfortably commonplace today. These struggles revealed how far the world had to go before we get to where we hope to go as a civilization that truly serves everyone. Donald Trump being president did not, and now still does not, help. The movement behind his rise to power was and remains to be indicative of heels being dug in to resist what’s necessary and overdue where social change is concerned. We’re still feeling the effects of that today, now very likely to intensify over the next four years.

“13th Century Metal” also carries an invitation to consider who we all want to be as people as we face an awful and repressive social environment. It’s therefore also in consideration of what kind of world we want to make for ourselves and for each other in resistance to it. This is a call to rebellion. That certainly includes being kind, mindful, empathetic, self-aware, and wary. These were radical political choices by the time Jaime came out. They remain to be so today, and all the more.

As much as this song may be considered as a personal manifesto and a sermon to the church of humanity, the takeaway is more profound and deeper still. This is a hopeful prayer that in being thrust into the fire, we will not only survive, but also be tempered in our strength of will and knowledge to create a better world after all.

Brittany Howard is an active artist today. You can learn more about her and her more recent output at brittanyhoward.com.

For more background on Howard’s life as a developing artist and on her approach to writing the material for the Jaime album, including this song, check out this interview with Brittany Howard at The New Yorker.

If it’s more music that you’re after, check out Brittany Howard’s Tiny Desk Concert in which she demonstrates her amazing vocal capacity that puts her in the same league as any classic soul vocalist you can name.

Enjoy!

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