Joan As Police Woman: 'To Survive'

Having graduated from the New York “Beauty is the new Punk Rock” scene with her highly regarded debut 'Real Life', Joan As Police Woman, alias Joan Wasser, returns with a collection of sublime, unpolished honesty.

There is a strange pairing in 'To Be Loved' and 'To Be Lonely', the titles marrying two songs of absolute opposites. One has an consistent rhythmic pulse, the other is broken by grief stricken piano runs. There is assured, comfortable singing contrasted with stammering vocal phrasing; contentment versus discontentment. It is a fascinating creative move, the kind of thoughtful sequencing that is increasing rare nowadays with the decline of the album and the rise of randomly shuffled downloads.

'Magpies' has a conversational brass arrangement and could almost be described as summery were it not for the occasional moments of piano/violin dissonance. If only the stringed instruments had carried on a dialogue with the bracing trumpets we might have had a chartable single on our hands, but then without their contrast it wouldn’t quite be Joan Wasser either.

The restless disbelief evinced in 'Furious' shows a political awareness at work that hasn’t exactly been wanting in American music over the course of the Bush administration, but the song itself is pleasingly insistent in it’s disapproval, “Are you not furious?” she repeatedly asks, backed up by a mean gang of dark voices and overdriven bass.

She closes the album in fine style with swinging saxophones and actual fireworks which explode around the curling duet of her worn tones with Rufus Wainwright’s velvety oesophagus. 'To America' is a forward thinking closer, which really sums up the intelligence and grace of this fine songwriter, and also provides me with an out for this review - how thoughtful.

Released on 9th June 2008 by Reveal Records.

Written by Richard Wood.