Who is Sault?

If there’s a soundtrack for this pandemic summer, these dark times, these continued black deaths, these waves of protests, it’s by a mysterious group that goes by the name of Sault. Sault has released an astonishing 4 albums in the past 2 years (2 of which are double albums). The first two albums 5 (written out in a matchstick tally) and 7 came out in 2019. This year saw Untitled (Black Is) that was released soon after and in response to the murder of George Floyd, and Untitled (Rise), which just came out a few days ago. Never with any fanfare or press releases.

They have virtually no social media presence, no videos, hell, no wikipedia article. But in their music they are telling a story about black life that winds its way through different genres and tones and black musical traditions of both sonics and protest. It’s an anonymous group, but not anonymous like the internet hacktivists with familiar disguises and masked voices, but a group that channels the voice of communal struggle. A more vital kind of anonymity.

Here’s" “Scary Times”: