“Good intentions that you keep / Don’t change the fact that you’re a beast,” sings Sunny War on the rollicking “No Reason.” Her fascination with duality and oxymoron predates her ascent as one of Americana’s most exciting voices (she named herself “Sunny War,” for folk’s sake). “Anarchist Gospel” just refines her thesis on the contradictory essence of human nature even as it refines her blues-rooted sound.
Here, with Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Margo Price) at the production desk and a slew of guests on the track list including Allison Russell and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, War’s LA busker roots collide with a slicker Nashville sensibility that can lull you into a false feeling of security.
Get caught up in her smooth alto and you might not notice the weighty core of hopelessness and surrender at the heart of “I Got No Fight,” or the apparent children’s choir backing her on…wait a minute, is that Ween’s “Baby Bitch”? No matter who shows up with her in the studio, of course, Sunny War remains a beast of a country blues guitarist—technically dizzying, but also loose, jaunty, and fun all at once.
The Fat Angel Sings 