Written by: Matt Plummer
Band:
Album Title:
Release Date:
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Heavy Soul
7th June 2024
Well… that listen has been thoroughly agreeable! Joanne Shaw Taylor returns with another excellent offering, packed with emotive, flowing, fluid, perfervid and vocal licks and melodies all pouring out of the guitar with an expressive flair and passion.
Joanne’s vocals often sound reminiscent of Tina Turner, not in a cheesy tribute act way or even as a conscious effort. The rich but aspirate timbre of Joanne’s voice perfectly compliments the tone of the music widening its genre from blues and rock to R&B or soul.
The album consists of 10 tracks, this is where my personal tastes might get in the way; maybe my eclectic taste doesn’t reach far enough, however I feel there are a couple of exemplary songs (prime amongst them, Black Magic and Devil In Me), there are a lot of very good songs but there are two that I find don’t meet expectations. I can appreciate them and would happily listen to them again, but to my ears, they don’t quite live up to how good the rest of the album is.
Songs build and bloom creating a mood that permeates the entire album.
Let’s not dwell on a negative though. Heavy Soul as an album is spacious and expansive. Instruments and melodies have room to breathe and simmer there is maturity to the songwriting wherein there is no rush to reach an immediate dopamine hit. Songs build and bloom creating a mood that permeates the entire album.
As a note on the musicianship on the album, it’s easy to appreciate Joanne’s performance, silky smooth guitar work, beautiful tone recorded with a polished, refulgent clarity. The instrumentation as a whole is burnished and polished to a mirror finish. Lovely stuff.
Track Listing
- Sweet ‘Lil Lies
- All The Way From America
- Black Magic
- Drowning In A Sea Of Love
- A Good Goodbye
- Wild Love
- Someone Like You
- Devil In Me
- Change Of Heart