"Mavis Staples has announced details of We Get By, her new studio album produced by Ben Harper. Following her acclaimed 2017 collection If All I Was Was Black, the album marks the latest in a flurry of creativity from Staples, who will turn 80 this summer.
We Get By is an album of originals written by Harper for the legendary gospel/r&b singer and songwriter. The album’s lead single, “Change,” finds the singer addressing gun violence and civil rights. “What good is freedom,” she sings over a blues guitar dirge, “if we haven’t learned to be free.”
“These songs are delivering such a strong message,” the legendary singer-activist says of the new album. “We truly need to make a change if we want this world to be better.”
Staples and Harper have collaborated before in recent years. The young singer-songwriter wrote “Love and Trust” for Staples on her 2016 album Livin’ on a High Note. Earlier this year, she told Rolling Stone that Harper has inspired her to try skateboarding for her 80th birthday. “I’ve seen my friend Ben Harper skateboarding and I said, ‘Ben, I’m scared for you on that,’ she said, “And he said, ‘Well Mavis, this is beautiful. You’ve got to try it.'”
We Get By will hit stores May 10th, in the midst of a series of star-studded 80th birthday celebration concerts Staples will be hosting in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. Of the shows, Staples says, “I am letting my fans know that I’m over the hill, but now I’m going over the mountain.”
We Get By Track List
1. Change
2. Anytime
3. We Get By [feat. Ben Harper]
4. Brothers and Sisters
5. Heavy on My Mind
6. Sometime
7. Never Needed Anyone
8. Stronger
9. Chance on Me
10. Hard to Leave
11. One More Change." - Rollingstone.com
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