"I don't want your martial law, I want clean air / I don't want no enemies that ain't even there," Brittany Howard less sings than sighs on "I Feel Hope Coming," capturing the exasperation of reasoning with fascists on a standout track from her band's instantly essential new LP, I Must Be Dreaming. Alabama Shakes — rhythm guitarist and vocalist extraordinaire Howard, bassist Zac Cockrell and lead guitarist Heath Fogg — broke big pre-Trump 1.0. This long-awaited follow-up will also whisk you away to fully realized worlds of sound and colour, to paraphrase the preceding album's title (thanks in no small part this time to Canuck producer Shawn Everett), while also boasting the band's most urgent lyricism yet. Apart from singing about hope as if she's an elusive old flame of the same name on "I Feel Hope Coming," Howard also coos about inadequate prayers over Fogg's lushly flaring guitar. Then there's Cockrell, whose bass solo will remind you of an insistent tap on the shoulder. Howard employs a fittingly different emotion on the even more socially conscious back-end track "American Dream," sneering verses about unattainable peace and freedom amounting to a waking nightmare over Fogg and Cockrell's bluesy playing. A line about consumerism overshadowing progressive mantras like "My body, my choice" makes the song even more meaningful, helping Howard reach a new tier as a writer reflecting the times she's inhabiting. And while Alabama Shakes prove deft with such much-needed protest songs — a commodity in no short supply during this nefarious administration — the band are also reliable as ever with atmospheric, heart-wrenching anthems about intimacy. On "Another Life," Howard doesn't so much plead about — to reference yet another of their indispensable early hits — not wanting to fight no more, but instead daydreams about asking her beau to try one more hand at their union, albeit in another life. To mirror that spectrum of emotion, Alabama Shakes' keys chime like a pining lover's eyes might gleam, while the percussion gurgles forth like the splat of falling tears before thudding like a breaking heart. As she wails on the chorus, Howard sounds like a surprisingly fitting heir to Erykah Badu in the era she sang to André 3000, except this time swapping the funk for indie rock-flecked blues. Meanwhile, Howard soulfully brays about "what-ifs" and "shoulda-beens" on "Garden" before slipping into a gripping speak-singing cadence, marrying jazz and blues like a million-dollar matchmaker. What's more, "How Love's Supposed to Go" has dissonant sliding notes that capture the chaos of courtship, while her distorted vocals and strained upper register sear with yearning. Then there's opener "Tea Time," which kicks off the album with muffled, shuffling drums that begin to boom and echo as Howard sings about longing to go home, back to a river where flowers grow, her voice haunted by a deep ache. On the subsequent, similarly named "Time," Fogg has a blistering solo, with feedback-drenched shredding to follow on "Waist Deep," marrying the intensity of his guitar lines with Howard's unmistakably emotive vocals and the truth they're speaking to power. From musicianship to introspection, immersive production to well-timed political critiques, I Must Be Dreaming is the long-awaited Alabama Shakes follow-up fans have been dreaming of.