It’s hard to talk about Sault without invoking the names of the acts whose shoulders they stand on. Some of this is a byproduct of the group’s preferred anonymity—Sault is conspicuously press-shy and to date have declined to identify actual members. Outside of that, though, the group speaks a language of vintage soul, the kind steeped in the sort of candor and compassion that made artists like Nina Simone, Marvin Gaye, and Minnie Riperton—to name but a few—legends. These kinds of comparisons are as much a testament to the collective’s pedigree as the music’s familiarity, so Sault is on their way. With Nine, they continue telling the story we’ve heard across 2020’s Untitled (Black Is) and Untitled (Rise), and 2019’s 5 and 7. “One day you’ll make it, one day you’ll feel free,” a voice sings over soft guitar strums on the title track. Sault makes music that speaks directly to the perseverance integral to the Black experience, and in that, soul is the vessel.