“I’ve stretched out—I’m singing songs that rock stars have written for me,” explained Mavis Staples, “but they know me and the kind of songs I want to sing.” This includes “Love and Trust,” composed by Ben Harper, which is also the opening song on Live in London. L“I love that song, it’s a beauty,” she says. “I’ve been sending a message of love and trust since the Sixties, and I’m still searching for that.”
Live in London is Mavis Staples’ first live album in ten years, set for release on February 8, 2019. Recorded over two nights at London’s Union Chapel (which she calls “the best place in the world to sing”) and produced by Staples herself, Live in London reveals that the singer retains astonishing power after seventy years as a performer. While her repertoire continues to expand, her philosophy is unchanged since her days in the groundbreaking family group the Staple Singers.
Ironically, her last live record—2008’s Hope at the Hideout—was cut against the background of her fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama’s historic election, while the new album inevitably addresses the horrors of the Donald Trump era. Notably, though the Staple Singers were responsible for such indelible anthems as “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself,” Live in London delivers its own powerful sounds and formidable statements without including those classics. “Of course I still perform those songs,” says Staples, “but we didn’t see any need for them to be on the record. This gives people a chance to hear what we’re doing now.”
The focus of this collection is material Staples has recorded since signing with ANTI- Records in 2007, and in that time Staples has had songs written for her by iconoclastic artists like Nick Cave, Neko Case, and Merrill Garbus (Tune-Yards); collaborated with modern rock powerhouses Arcade Fire, Gorillaz, and Hozier; and recorded multiple albums with Jeff Tweedy from Wilco.
“It’s kind of unbelievable to me that I’m still recording,” says Staples. “I never thought I would still be singing at my age, and people seem to really want to hear me, they know me, they give me love—I’m just overwhelmed, really. I thank God every night before I go to bed and then again every morning for waking up.”
