Leyla McCalla: Sun Without the Heat review – a freewheeling, joyous listen

Multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla was exploring the Black legacies of country music and Americana long before Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter made the idea mainstream. As a member of the group Our Native Daughters, she has highlighted the presence of Black female banjo players, while her work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops explored the Black songbook for strings.

In her solo output, McCalla expands her purview to take in music from the African diaspora. On this, her fifth album, she provides 10 gorgeously crafted songs that veer from Afrobeat to Brazilian tropicalismo, as well as folk and country. Glittering, highlife-inspired guitars are a buoyant touch on celebratory tracks such as Open the Road and Take Me Away, while the plaintive plucking of Tree and the sweeping cello of I Want to Believe showcase McCalla’s storytelling songwriting, presenting hopeful tales of self-exploration.

While the heavier, distorted guitars of Tower and Love We Had feel somewhat jarring in the ebullient context of the album, Sun Without the Heat is a freewheeling and joyous listen, with McCalla employing her knowledge of musical traditions to produce fresh combinations.