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Jun 2, 2017Booker’s music emerges as defiant, insightful and both intimately and communally self-actualizing.
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Jun 6, 2017His personal embrace of the political galvanizes the album, which has a sense of purpose lacking on his debut, but what's truly startling upon first listen is how Booker's broadened his palette considerably.
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Jun 19, 2017The raw, carnal fervor of Booker’s punk numbers is still present--and sometimes it’s more pronounced--on Witness’ acoustic and naked electric blues and soul, when the opposing forces of a lush or refined landscape and Booker’s gravely voice work in concert.
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MagnetJun 27, 2017Like his labelmates in Alabama Shakes, Booker takes inspiration from the past to make huge artistic leaps forward. [No. 143, p.55]
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MojoJun 27, 2017[A] fine, part-politicised follow-up. [Aug 2017, p.96]
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Jun 23, 2017Witness is the work of a singer equipping himself for the long haul.
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Jun 21, 2017Witness a contemporary twist on the classic R&B revival. Hallelujah.
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Jun 5, 2017Booker soundtracks his anxiety with music that feels more textured and spacious than any he has made previously.
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Jul 19, 2017It unveils itself as quick as a flash, but when taken in individual portions, Witness has an unforeseen succinctness that provides some stability to his otherwise nervous excitement.
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Jun 7, 2017Witness owes its imperfect existence to garage-punk, psychedelic Afro-rock and the overarching and heartbreaking sentiment that ours is a system that we might not get out from under anytime soon.
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Jun 6, 2017Booker recounting his own experience of racism in America amidst swirling guitars, soaring vocals, handclaps, and lyrical repetition. That the repetition eventually grates only goes to show how high Booker can reach at his best.
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UncutJun 1, 2017[A] set of intense and committed songs. [Jul 2017, p.25]
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Jun 1, 2017The consistent thread is Booker’s raw electric guitar, and while there’s perhaps too much going on for it all to hang together all the time, he’s happiest at his simplest.
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Jun 1, 2017The title track draws on gospel traditions to confront police killings--“Not everybody that’s brown can get the fuck on the ground”--while in “Overtime” and “Believe”, Booker expresses the desire for faith and direction in a rootless world.
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Jun 1, 2017At the centre of everything is Booker’s raspy vocal delivery, and therein lies the record’s central contradiction--the lush arrangements are lovely, but they too often threaten to suffocate that remarkably raw voice. There’s a balance to be struck, and Booker’s not quite there yet--maybe next time.