Robert Plant “Saving Grace”

A rock icon’s pilgrimage to the heart of roots music.

Robert Plant is a name set in the history of popular culture. Best known for his role as singer of Led Zeppelin, Plant helped define the rock imagery of the 70s, alongside other frontmen like Jim Morrison or Mick Jagger, lithe, magnetic, and full of energetic abandon. Of course, since the end of the legendary band in 1980 much has changed. Closing in on his eighth decade on this planet, Plant has a long and illustrious career behind him, and his merits reach further than those garnered with the band that turned him into a global icon.

Throughout the years, there’s been a notable shift in Plant’s performative persona, separating him from some of his peers, seemingly content with representing watered-down versions of their youthful selves. Plant has embraced changes both in music and himself, and as a singer, is the better for it. He’s grown as an artist and found a more controlled approach, as well as an arguably deeper connection to his material, as shown in the evolving sound of his music and live performances. Plant has always mesmerized, but now he can achieve this with little physicality, relying solely on a masterful, nuanced vocal delivery.

His latest album is “Saving Grace”, named after his new band, made up of Suzi Dian (vocals), Matt Worley (banjo and string), Oli Jefferson (drums), Tony Kelsey (guitar), and Barney Morse-Brown (cello). This is their first record together, though Plant is no stranger to collaborative projects. Aside from his post-Zeppelin team-up with Jimmy Page, over the years he’s worked with artists such as Phil Johnstone or Jeff Beck (as The Honeydrippers, again, with Page), his supporting bands Priory of Brion, Strange Sensations, and his 2010 reimagining of Band of Joy.

“Saving Grace” seems like a different type of project in several ways. Firstly, the tracklist consists of renditions of pre-existing songs of varied origins, from traditional compositions such as ‘As I Roved Out’ and ‘Gospel Plough’, tracks Plant might have listened to in his youth, like ‘It’s a Beautiful Day Today’ and ‘Chevrolet’ (from Donovan’s ‘Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)’, in turn inspired by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy’s blues ‘Can I Do It For You’ ) or twenty-first century songs like ‘Ticket Taker’ or the fantastic ‘Everybody’s Song’. All of these are reimagined, with new arrangements and a unifying sound, very much a group effort with which Plant seems perfectly comfortable as master of ceremonies.

The album and the band originated under special circumstances, starting with an encounter between Plant and Matt Worley at a pub, in which their shared interest and knowledge about music led to a quick connection. After hitting it off, Plant decided to share “some songs out of the thousands” he still hasn’t released, and slowly the plan for a new project took shape, with the idea of bringing in other musicians and an additional singer. This way, Saving Grace started as a low-profile local project in the Cotswolds. However, still in their initial stages as a group, the Covid pandemic paralysed everything and touring plans had to be temporarily abandoned. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it meant more time to work on their sound and repertoire. Eventually, with the loosening of preventive measures, they began to record in informal settings and eventually booked themselves into local venues, before venturing farther.

In this new sound, there’s certainly still the imprint of Plant’s collaborations with Alison Krauss (the albums ‘Raising Sand’ in 2007 and ‘Raise the Roof’ in 2021). Krauss’ influence was a turning point in Plant’s singing, thanks to her musical perspective and teachings on harmonies. Their work together is sometimes marked as the starting point in his shift towards roots music. However, Plant’s connections to americana go way back. Even as a kid Plant was greatly influenced by the music he heard coming in from the United States. In fact, his first live performance was as part of a delta blues-inspired band, playing the washboard. Moved by what he heard, all he wanted was to make music. Eventually, he had to choose between his studies and his passion, which led to a distancing from his family and hard times in which he was even homeless prior to the formation of Led Zeppelin. But that’s a different story from long ago.

Fast-forward to 2025 and we find Plant reconnected with his passion for roots music, without straying far from some of the world-music influences heard in his previous albums. The combination of Plant and Dian’s voices shrouds each song in an almost mystical aura that transports you to the sensorial realms of myth and tradition. In tracks like ‘As I Roved On’, chanting in unison, it’s as if they’re tapping into ancestral knowledge, ready to awaken forgotten feelings. Throughout most of the album, there’s a pervading sense of urgency, driven by the sometimes-darker harmonies, and broken only by softer recordings like ‘I Will Never Marry’.

After several listens, I can’t help but think of the period after the death of John Bonham and the end of Led Zeppelin, when Plant considered abandoning music for a career in teaching, and the songs we might never have heard. Thankfully, that never came to pass, and since then Plant has managed to reinvent himself time and time again. “Saving Grace” is a great starting point for this group of collaborators, and an interesting new direction (albeit one long heralded) for the icon that is Robert Plant.