SAULT and Anonymity
Who Is SAULT?
SAULT is a mostly British music collective covering various genres, ranging from R&B, house, disco, jazz and soul whose members choose to remain anonymous. Due to the recognisability of some of the musicians’ voices, and fans’ advanced digging skills some members have been revealed, whilst others still remain unknown. Given the acclaim they have received I wondered at the factors which informed their decision to remain anonymous. First, I reflected upon the ways in which my experience of listening to SAULT differs from that of listening to artists whose identity is known. Soon, I realised that this changed from artist to artist, whereby in some cases the musician has a stronger influence on my experience of their music than in other cases. This is true for Erykah Badu, whose music evokes her iconic 2000s fashion and the wisdom and at times controversy that she oozes in her interviews. When listening to her records I have a very clear conception of the artist behind it, which informs interaction with them and imbues the lyrics with meaning. The strong association I make between her music and her renders her music a vessel to further learn about the artist and connect with her. This is facilitated by the information one can find about Erykah Badu online, explaining which life events inspired her songs and presenting the correct interpretation to her tracks.
SAULT warns us of the danger of directing too much attention towards the artists and urges listeners to create their own interpretation of their music. This prevents the betrayal I felt when Jorja Smith stated that one of the songs in her new album ‘Falling or Flying’ was sang from the point of view of a friend instead of her own. This example made me realise that at times we mistakenly think of the artists we listen to as living in isolation, expressing ideas they came up with on their own. But this is hardly ever the case, as with all of us, their personalities and life experiences have been shaped by their interactions with others. It is a great loss to overlook the ability of a single musician to channel the voices of many others in their community as I find this to be one of the most valuable aspects of it as a medium. Nevertheless, artists can also choose to maintain a level of separation between their music and their private lives. This is the case for Little Simz and Cleo Sol, unsurprisingly certified members of SAULT, whose limited information about them online renders, by default, their lyrics the best medium to reach them. The lack of knowledge listeners have regarding the meaning a song has for its artist forces them to engage more actively with the music and to imbue the lyrics with a meaning chosen by them. This marks a different way of engaging with music whereby it is a more fruitful experience for the listener.
This is especially relevant for SAULT due to their mission as a collective, which in my opinion, is best described by the noun solidarity. Their music, with its anonymity and blend of diverse voices, successfully merges the diversity of humanity. Representation as a fundamental aspect of the collective is evidenced by Little Simz’s speech after receiving the MOBO award for SAULT when she described it as “For the people, by the people.” More specifically, a focus of SAULT is solidarity between black people all over the world. Following the murder of George Floyd, SAULT released a statement alongside their album ‘Untitled (Black Is)’ expressing their commitment to change. The tracks on the album give voice to the collective’s response to police brutality and systemic racism, creating a safe space of solidarity between black people and people of black origin, fostering reflection and using musicality to express a depth of emotion which speech fails to encapsulate.
With social media making information readily accessible to all, SAULT is a gem in its anonymity, challenging the ways in which we engage with all other music and promoting a more meaningful manner of doing so. Lastly, the subject topics covered by the collective are extremely relevant to the society we live in and a source of reflection for all.