Joan As Police Woman takes a big step with her new album “Lemons, Limes and Orchids”.
A good three years ago, “The Solution Is Restless” was released, a fascinating collaborative album by the late Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen, the Kenyan jazz musician Dave Okumu and the Canadian singer/songwriter Joan Wasser aka Joan As Police Woman, who with this record once again demonstrated their outstanding musicality.
The contact between Allen and Wasser was established by her old friend Damon Albarn from Blur, who played on a few tracks, as did bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, who is one of Wasser's closest musical colleagues.
The importance of creative and friendly connections for Wasser is reflected in her entire historical work: The classically trained violinist began her career in the early 1990s with the indie punks The Dambuilders and the folk band Black Beetles, former musicians of her partner Jeff, who died young Buckley. For her solo project, Wasser chose the name Joan As Police Woman because a friend once said she looked similar to actress Angie Dickinson, lead actress in the television series “Police Woman.”
There is always a melancholic tone in her own songs, which is drawn from personal experiences of loss and grief – true to her motto “Beauty is the new Punk” and embedded in touching euphony. In addition to her solo albums, which have been released since 2004, Wasser has played with artists as diverse as Anohni, Lou Reed, Dave Gahan, Sheryl Crow, Elton John and Rufus Wainwright. She experimented with soul and funk, released a record with Benjamin Lazar Davis (Okkervil River) and several albums with cover versions of Prince, The Strokes and Talk Talk, among others.
The CD
Joan as a policewoman: lemons, limes and orchids.
PIAS.
Often accompanied by the aforementioned Meshell Ndegeocello, whose deeply pulsating bass lines can also be heard or better felt on Joan As Police Woman's current solo album. “Lemons, Limes and Orchids” is a big step for Wasser: sorrow and doubt seem to fit into a larger whole without being denied. Personal questions intertwine with global issues such as environmental destruction, and the music also oscillates organically up and down.
She sounds like a secular gospel singer in the solemn piano ballads “Tribute To Holding On” and “Started Off Free”, while the opener “The Dream” and “Remember The Voice” dance on gently clacking synth beats. The self-referential “Oh Joan” is both a preliminary summary and a task: “Untether my mind and let the ghosts do nothing / hope and pray it's not malicious recycling / Oh Joan / What is there to do?”, she sings, what can you do Just do it against the evil spirits in your head?
“Help Is On Its Way” is the motto in the poignant last piece, which immediately takes back the hopeful title line: “just joker” – saving yourself and the world is not that easy. But you should at least try to create a magnificent, fragrant arrangement out of limes and orchids and invite good friends.
