Another week, another rehabilitated oldster with a sharp-edged new disc.
This one goes straight onto the credit pile of the genre for a number of pressing reasons.
Chief is the fact that it is over a decade since he last made an album, and Richard Russell of XL and Damon Albarn, who lured him out of retirement for a Gorillaz cameo, deserve sincere thanks for putting the creator of the excellent "Poet" albums back on the map. They have also co-written a pretty fine bunch of tracks, even if some of them could not actually be described as songs, which showcase his inimitable voice as it should be heard. The past is acknowledged in cameos here from Gil Scott Heron (whose final disc Russell was also responsible for) and Sam Cooke (whose widow Womack married, which lost him some friends), and the present with vocal contributions from Lana Del Rey and Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara. The latter's contribution to Nothin' Can Save Ya makes it one of the highlights of the set, but the album will best be remembered for its opening words, which give it its title.
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