The UK outfit SAULT released two albums in 2020, and Pitchfork's review treats them as a pair: Untitled (Black Is) and Untitled (Rise). Both passionately consider the entirety of the Black experience in this moment.

Untitled (Black Is) arrived on Juneteenth, 25 days after the killing of George Floyd. According to the review, the timing alone made the point, and its sharp refrains, spoken-word interludes and deliberate use of repetition make the intentions clear.

Untitled (Rise), the second of the two, closes with a song for the children. Little Boy moves from a frank warning about the “boys in blue” to divine affirmations, holding space for light and dark the way Nina Simone did on To Be Young, Gifted and Black.

The rhythmic foundation blends funk and Fela Kuti's Afrobeat with disco, soul and R&B. Not much is known about the group, which keeps its anonymity and does not show its faces.