From the intimate, warm harmonies of the opening track, “Rainbows,” to the oceanic swaying of the final track, “Good Omens,” Allison Russell’s new album In the Hour of Chaos testifies to the power of resilience and unity in the face of the political, social, economic, and personal chaos we face daily in these times. Inviting 28 other artists — including Norah Jones, Brittney Spencer, Joy Oladokun, Kyshona, and Devon Gilfillian, among others — to join her on various songs on the album, Russell creates an ebullient community of song.
To open the album with the song “Rainbows” makes perfect sense since rainbows serve both as colorful, bright signs of hope and illustrations of harmony. The gentle cantering melody of the verses opens into a swelling chorus of harmonies in the chorus, almost as if a rainbow is emerging from the clouds after a rain shower. Oladokun and Julie Williams join forces with Russell on the gorgeous ballad “No Springtime,” a defiant resolution not to wallow in or to return to the resignation of past actions. Russell reiterates T.S. Eliot’s dictum that April is the cruelest month on the ringing, uptempo pop-inflected “Cold April,” which features Kara Jackson, Denitia, and Ida’s Explore! Community Pop Choir (including Russell’s daughter Ida). While the song opens on the contrast between warmth and cold, it moves by the end to an affirmation that we can provide hope for others by enveloping them in the warmth of our love.
