Songwrights Apothecary Lab

Concept albums aren’t as popular as they once were, but Esperanza Spalding’s latest creation is nothing if not highly conceptual; it even has an extended mission statement that starts: “Songwrights Apothecary Lab (a.k.a. S.A.L.) seeks to respectfully dip into the healing seas of music/musicianship/song, and distill a few grains of piquancy which carry the life-renewing flavor of the unfathomable ocean of human resiliency, then work those grains into new musical formwelas, to enhance the healing flavours and intentions innate in all works of devoted creatorship.” You get the picture.

This might give the wrong impression; it is essentially ‘now speak’ for the project that composer, singer and bassist Spalding focussed on over the pandemic. The Songwrights Apothecary Lab is also a facility that Spalding curates at Harvard. So how did someone so young (she is 36) achieve the latter whilst making some of the most unusual music of recent times?

Spalding’s first four albums were mostly instrumental jazz led by her impressively fluid and melodic double bass playing, but in 2016 she changed her approach completely with an alter ego on the excellent Emily’s D+Evolution. This covered the gamut of jazz, rock and pop and was both her most exciting album to date and the most successful, bringing an army of younger fans who lapped it up when she recorded the pop album Exposure in a multi day, live online stream, a first in any musical sphere to my knowledge. 2018’s 12 Little Spells continued in the same style and while successful didn’t have quite the same appeal to the more mature listener.

Songwrights Apothecary Lab is a return to form for Esperanza Spalding that avoids the obvious and fluctuates between the ethereal and intense with musical explorations that push the boundaries whilst remaining accessible. It consists of a dozen Formwelas created by Spalding and various musicians and collaborators, usually led by Spalding’s voice, her double bass takes up no more space than would usually be the case for that instrument. ‘Formwela 1’ is the most eerie as it uses reverb and echo to extend sung notes that don’t start to form words for several minutes, double bass provides a subtle rhythm and piano adds melody whilst thunder cracks in the background.

‘Formwela 2’ is a collab with Sri Lankan born singer Ganavya who adds an exotic earthiness to Spalding’s pure, high tones and creates a sensuous piece full of bird song sounds, bass rumbles, flute and gong, it’s a highlight of the album and a contrast to ‘Formwela 3’ that while it segues into it gradually snakes its way to a crescendo of tinkling ivories, intense sax bursts and electric bass. ‘Formwela 4’ is the first of three collaborations with singer and guitar player Corey King, whose velvet tones make a great combination with the lead. Here we have a simple acoustic guitar backing to the most traditional song on the record that slowly evolves with clever placement of backing vocals to become something both exciting and engaging. It proves that you can make the conventional intriguing with some clever arrangement and production.

‘Formwela 5’ unifies the two voices so closely that they become one harmonic medium for the healing that this music intends to bring, piano provides a tonal contrast and once again the engineer expands the stage width with King’s voice. ‘Formwela 8’ is the longest song here and the most mesmeric in its simple repeated motif using a choir of voices and full band with electric bass and guitar. The way that Spalding’s spoken voice is placed deep in the mix provides an apex for the piece and gives it a depth that works superbly beneath the ebb and hymn-like flow of the vocal rhythm.

The remaining Formwelas follow a similar pattern albeit each has its own distinctions, ‘Formwella 11’ is almost entirely vocal scales at different pitches while ‘Formwela 13’ (there is no 12) contains the heaviest jazz of Spalding’s spectacular career. There can be no doubting the talent and heart of Esperanza Spalding, she’s an example to both the musical and the larger world, and one that fills the listener with hope and inspiration.

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