fri 06/12/2024

CD: Joan as Police Woman - Damned Devotion | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Joan as Police Woman - Damned Devotion

CD: Joan as Police Woman - Damned Devotion

The Brooklyn alt-soul singer sends an anti-Valentine card

Joan: strong and sensitive

Joan Wasser - aka Joan as Police Woman - has a reputation as one of the coolest women in rock. Look beyond the strong-female image, though, and you'll find a soul plagued by sensitivity and pain. That's the basis of Damned Devotion. It's a heartbreak hotel of an album. And down in the bar, they are playing sleazy electro-pop and Seventies soul.

Or to put it another way, the new album mixes the styles of her previous three. Languid, smoky vocals sit on top of arrangements that are so sparse, it's almost disarming. Apparently, the songwriting process began with Wasser improvising over a drum machine. It's easy to imagine how the demos must have sounded. Only the bare minimum of guitars and keyboards have been overlaid. The result is a stripped-back sound that oozes sexuality and regret.

The first three tracks hit you like a glass of scotch - bitter at first and then slowly intoxicating. The opener, "Wonderful" expresses repressed emotion in a voice that barely rises above a whisper. Next up, "Warning Bell"  contemplates failed romances with a sad and weary melody. Finally, "Tell Me" lifts the pace with mid-tempo Eighties' guitars and falsetto backing vocals.

Elsewhere we find remnants of the experimental sound Wasser used on 2016's Let It Be You. The fidgety beats of "Steed (for Jean Genet)" and "Talk about it Later" make for a kind of avant-funk. Such musical spikiness is often matched by lyrics that are even rawer. On "The Silence", for instance, we hear an angry crowd chanting, "my body my choice, her body her choice".  

Some are already calling Damned Devotion Wasser's best work to date. That's a moot point - it really depends on what you're looking for. There's certainly nothing here as warmly soulful as The Deep Field's "The Magic". Or as infectious as "Holy City" off The Classic. This is a deeper, darker and more sophisticated piece. Intriguingly released just before Valentine's Day, it's an album to get you through a long dark night of the soul. 


 
 

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters