Rhiannon Giddens: Freedom Highway review – timely and arresting

Unlike Rhiannon Giddens’ 2015 solo debut, an album of covers, most of Freedom Highway is original material, though steeped in the revivalist style of the group she co-founded, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Banjo and fiddle are foregrounded in a production that breathes weathered timber and dusty roads. Some songs are clearly historical – At the Purchaser’s Option and Julie are voices from slavery days – but Better Get It Right the First Time, complete with rap, could be from the urban present and Hey Bébé boasts muted New Orleans trumpet. The title track, a cover of the Staple Singers’ civil rights anthem, and We Could Fly affirm the quest for the promised land on a timely, arresting album.