Shabaka : Of the Earth
Within the first minute of “A Future Untold,” the leadoff track on Shabaka Hutchings‘ sophomore solo album Of the Earth, a familiar sound emerges: saxophone. It’s been a little while since Shabaka last picked up his horn—In 2023 he announced his semi-retirement as a saxophonist, the UK musician having spent the previous decade releasing an ample array of albums from his various ensembles (Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, Shabaka and the Ancestors) and helping to establish London’s scene as one of the most vibrant of 21st century jazz. But after years of dedication to the instrument, he reached the point of no longer being inspired by it like he once was, instead taking up the playing of various flutes and exploring their possibilities on recordings such as the soothing and hypnotic Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace in 2024. He started a new label and collaborated with the likes of billy woods and Turnstile, making it clear that however dormant his status might be as a saxophone player might be, Shabaka the musician still has his share of exploring to do.
With Of the Earth, however, Shabaka no longer seems so fatigued by what was once his defining instrument. In 2025, he publicly performed as a saxophonist for the first time in two years at a memorial concert for South African jazz drummer Louis Moholo, and coupled with a new perspective gained by studying new techniques and breathing patterns as a flautist, it helped him find new inspiration from an old source. When his saxophone appears in “A Future Untold,” it arrives with the same sense of meditative gentleness as that of the flute playing from his 2024 debut, gorgeously soothing, mournful and beautiful.
The fiery leads of Sons of Kemet and trancelike wanderings of his work with The Ancestors are mostly only hinted at here. Shabaka continues to pursue a more atmospheric approach, yet it’s one that took shape while traveling, with portable instruments and modes of recording employed throughout. That globe-trotting sensibility presents itself via a more eclectic set of songs, which while rooted in a similarly spiritual jazz approach as everything he’s done, comprises a number of different shapes. “Those of the Sky” is a psychedelic swirl of sounds, woodwinds juxtaposed with an electronic pulse at its core, its final product something like IDM jazz. “Go Astray” is an even more unexpected development, with Shabaka actually rapping in a pitch-shifted register, offering socio-political commentary through a curious filter: “Please proceed my need to preach non-violence/While the usual suspects suffer in silence.”
Of the Earth is at times more animated and lively than its predecessor, such as on the polyrhythmic frenzy of “Call the Power,” with clacking percussion and siren-like synths driving its surge of energy. “Dance in Praise” is a lively burst of soca rhythm wrapped in layers of Shabaka’s flute, while “Ol’ Time African Gods” returns to a similar IDM sensibility as that of “Those of the Sky” but with an even more off-kilter approach, one that’s slightly disorienting but grooves nonetheless. It’s not until “Stand Firm,” however, that Shabaka’s saxophone playing truly takes off, leaving the realm of the meditative and finding the fire anew. It’s the firmest bridge back to the animated and agitated sound of his work with the likes of Sons of Kemet, and a case in point of how harmoniously it can coexist with his more meditative recent work. Even when he’s focused on the smaller, more delicate details, it seems that Shabaka’s sound world can’t help but grow larger.
Label: Shabaka
Year: 2026
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Shabaka : Of the Earth
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