Joan as Police Woman
The Deep Field
PIAS America
By David Courtright
Joan Wasser has been on or behind the indie scene for a very long time now. Before adopting her current moniker Joan as Police Woman in 2002, she was involved with such indie stars as Antony and the Johnsons and Rufus Wainwright. She was also involved romantically with Jeff Buckley at the time of his tragic death by drowning in 1997.
A classically trained violinist, Wasser has made three full-length albums as a solo artist, this one perhaps featuring the least amount of violin influence. Her debut, Real Life (2006) saw much more electric violin, especially on songs like “Christobel.” That album in particular, exhibited Wasser’s superb skill at slow, lush arrangements and dense emotional expression. Her sophomore album, To Survive, was a fairly direct reference to losing her mother to cancer
For this record, it seems she’s moved more away from the melancholy, and more towards what she calls “universal music.” In interviews she references Al Green, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye as influences for the sound she’s working toward – a more boisterous, more approachable sound. Not that her previous two records, with their sumptuous sonic textures, are so far out of reach. Her goal here is to reach more toward a pop-soul aesthetic, which almost, kind of, works.
The record starts out remarkably strong: the first track opening the album with ambient noise, almost like a bustling market, that fades seamlessly into a tight guitar-drum beat and catchy vocal line. There are always a few songs on a Joan as Police Woman album that you can’t live without, and a few that you surely could. The arrangement is always well-handled, studio-professional. In fact, her band on this album is perhaps the most cohesive – the very live sound of a good portion of the album speaks of a lot of touring in ways her previous two albums don’t approach. The second track, “The Magic,” whose music video is rather amusing, is a funky upbeat romp that promises a strong record to follow. The music, for the most part, is tight, memorable, and leaves traces of vocal or instrumental melodies across the memory.
The lyrics, at times obvious, at times obscure, leave a bit to be desired, but not to the point of dismissal. In moving toward “the universal,” she approaches topics like the “Human Condition,” which don’t quite translate into a pop song with hand claps: “The human condition makes me melt inside” falls a bit flat, especially with the faux-Barry White guy in the back ground repeating “human human condition.” Around this midpoint, the album slows considerably back to a speed she seems more comfortable with. As a whole, the album is well crafted, but in general, leaves a bit to be desired.
Joan as Police Woman plays The EARL on May 2.
