Stay High

Brittany Howard unleashes a track that vibrates with raw, ecstatic energy, built on a foundation of grinding, distorted guitar riffs and a drums-and-bass pocket so deep it feels geological. The production is deliberately rough-edged and immediate, favoring live-room intensity over studio polish, with Howard's guitar tone crunching and feeding back in ways that recall both Hendrix and punk rock's refusal to be pretty. Her voice is an absolute force of nature here — a huge, full-bodied instrument that moves from chest-rattling low growls to stratospheric howls with the fluidity of someone for whom genre boundaries simply do not exist. The song is about transcendence through connection, the kind of euphoria that lifts you out of your circumstances and holds you suspended above ordinary life, and Howard communicates this not just lyrically but physically, through the sheer bodily intensity of her delivery. Coming from the Alabama Shakes frontwoman's solo work, the track represents one of the most thrilling voices in American music operating without any safety net or compromise. This is music for driving fast with the volume maxed, for those moments when you need something that matches the scale of what you are feeling inside.