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MAVIS STAPLES
We'll Never Turn Back
Anti
****

There are times when it seems as if every senior gospel and soul trooper who has survived a couple of decades on the treadmill gets the legendary badge of honour by default. But Mavis Staples has earned her stripes, most notably with the forthright gospel stirrings of Pop Staples and family back in the civil rights maelstrom of the 1960s, and later with Prince at Paisley Park. Here, teamed up with Ry Cooder (by the record label making a habit of recasting such soul greats as Solomon Burke and Bettye LaVette), Staples sounds wise, emotional and strong on a well-selected set of protest anthems. When Staples sings these songs, particularly the plaintive yearnings of Down in Mississippi and the title track, it really does seem as if the songs were written with her and only her in mind. www.anti.com JIM CARROLL

Download tracks : Down in Mississippi, Jesus Is on the Main Line