Alabama Shakes, 'Don't Wanna Fight' — npr.org

As I sat down to write a few lines on the instantly arresting new song from Alabama Shakes, a swarm of blue-headed birds touched down on my front lawn, pressing right up against my window. Thanks, nature, for giving me a metaphor! That swarm is what this deep soul track from one of the decade's most promising young bands is all about. It starts with a Curtis Mayfield-style guitar groove, resolutely inching its way forward. The band joins in, layering the funk; everything is cool. Then, the swarm: Brittany Howard's voice depicts it as a James Brown squeal that stops everything, pulls it around, obliterates business as usual. "My lines, your lines, don't cross them lines," she spits. She's talking about the kind of conflict that feels like it descends out of nowhere but is really following ancient patterns, like a swarm. "Why can't we both be right?" The conflict could be with a loved one, or an internal one — maybe a bad habit battling it out with some better intentions. "Lying down ain't easy when everyone needs pleasing," Howard laments as she and the band piles up layers of riffs and rhythm. Zac Cockrell's bass line paces like an angry presence trying to calm itself down. The mood is thick. The sound is full of beating wings.

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