UK-based collective SAULT have cultivated a unique sense of mystique in the relatively few years of their career. Despite the relatively public profile of the group’s two key figures, namely producer Inflo and singer-songwriter Cleo Sol, the collective as a whole remains somewhat loosely defined. Past albums have eschewed titles and credits, and the various collaborators that make up SAULT themselves have forgone photos on related projects. They only appeared live for the first time in 2023 to unveil their latest album Acts of Faith, and then only released that album as .WAV file in July of the following year. Acts of Faith finally made its streaming debut this past Christmas Day, five days on from the release of the album’s final track “Pray for Me” as a lead single. Now on ready display for the masses, Acts of Faith reveals itself to be on rich, hypnotic exemplar of SAULT’s distinct blend of R&B, gospel, and soul – with a dash of jazz and funk for good measure – refined into one continuous 35-minute jewel. The record’s second track, “Set Your Spirit Free,” exemplifies these traits and then some in a sublime fragment worthy of individual note.
Propelled forward by a steady, demure drum groove and rounded out by silky-smooth bass licks and vibrant keys, the various elements of “Set Your Spirit Free” weave a light-as-air, jazz-style tapestry in which every individual thread feels like lead line unto itself, while remaining inherently laced to the others in service of the greater whole. It’s busy without ever being overwrought, saturated with texture but never burdened. Cleo Sol’s sonorous vocals positively float above an array of celestial harmonies, topping off a sonic collage that subtly evokes genre classics from the likes of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, yet still sounds immaculately fresh.
“Set Your Spirit Free” does its titular phrase good by distilling SAULT’s special species of soulful R&B into an at once easy and exorbitant burst. Listening to “Set Your Spirit Free” is itself, freeing, with the song refreshing the ears as a deep breath does the lungs.