Album review: INA FORSMAN – Been Meaning To Tell You

June 25th, 2019 by petefeenstra

Ruf [Release date 25.01.19]

‘Been Meaning To Tell You’ is a challenging cross genre album that suggests Ina Forsman will be a musical force to be reckoned with.

The low key vocal and piano intro to the opening ‘Be My Home’ serves notice of a singer-songwriter, vocal led album. Ina Forsman’s phrasing dominates throughout an album with significant big band accompaniment that broaches contemporary r&b, pop, soul, funk, jazz and blues.

A dozen tracks are built round her lyrical acumen and her ability to phrase ebulliently above Kazz Kazanoff and his Texas Horns, alongside a stellar cast of Austin A-list players including Laura Chavez on guitar, Chris Maresh on bass, and Red Young on piano.

Normally on a solo album the players don’t get such a big name check , but it’s the ambitious arrangements, her relationship lyrics and unfettered vocal style that makes this album work, or otherwise depending on your view.

Whoever was behind the decision to record the album with Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff, obviously had a musical vision far bigger than some of the individual tracks here. It makes for some stellar moments, even if they sometimes tend to be within a song rather than the song itself.

Take ‘Genius’ for example, on which Forsman sings behind the beat on a big horn-led soul outing, before soaring when the moment takes her. Like the album as a whole, her vocal is partly beguiling and party annoying. For while she hints at many musical directions and lyrics nuances, she rarely hovers long enough to give a phrase real substance. Indeed Laura Chavez’s short but effective guitar solo gives the track its missing beef.

That said, Forsman’s lyrical ability is impressive, whether on the contrasting male perspective of sexual harassment ‘Whatcha Gonna Do’ – on which purrs like Eartha Kitt – or on the more sophisticated female retort ‘Why You Gotta Be That Way’, on which her purring diction ensures you get the feel if not always the meaning in her diction.

Her stellar phrasing dominates a funky, jazzy track that closely defines her contemporary feel on another song with an electric piano solo.

The cornerstone to the album is her interpretive ability and the way she wrings every last nuance from her own words, even if she does sometimes over sing.

No matter, you can’t help but think that it’s with innovative artists like Ina Forsman and Samantha Fish that blues will have any kind of enduring contemporary appeal.

She tops and tails the album with the focus squarely on her voice, albeit 2 minutes in from the opening ‘Be My Home’ we’re into a full blown gospel arrangement.

The following ‘Get Mine’ serves as a contemporary slice of funky r&b, with her breathless vocals and an annoyingly phrased hook that admittedly stays in the mind, which of course was probably the idea.

The album title comes from ‘All Good’, a light poppy outing on which her voice shifts from the angelic to outrageous swoops in an MOR context.

On the slow blues ‘Miss Mistreated’ she twists and turns every single lyric to illustrate both her considerable abilities, but also her shortcomings. She’s got an incredible range that sees her go from a purr to a huge swoop, but she lacks a natural middle range and tries to over compensate by straining.

They say a slow blues always asks the most of a singer, and though she attacks it with gusto, like the ‘Sunny’ book-end to the album, it sounds closer to a vocal exercise than any deep emotional connection.

However, this is far from being a one dimensional album, and the great moments easily compensate for the opposite. She’s much better on the more relaxed vocal and piano arrangement of ‘Figure’, while ‘Who Hurt You’ is a notable highlight, being a cool soul outing with sympathetic horns, call and response bv’s and a belated flute part that leads to a big resolution

By contrast, the playful ‘Every Single Beat’, is built round a cluttered percussive Latino arrangement that is surprisingly well suited to her fast paced delivery. The track allows her to soar and swoop at will, as she cleverly incorporates some of the players as part of the song.

‘Been Meaning To Tell You’ will doubtless have many admirers and rightly so. There’s always room for challenging imaginative song writing and vivacious vocals in the blues, while any cross genre work is always something to be championed. Ultimately the album is just a little too busy, as her musical twist and turns mirror a restless spontaneous vocalist who is never going to settle for a one dimensional song.

You could argue that ‘Been Meaning To Tell You’ is groundbreaking, and that being so, it’s an album full of promise which might have benefited from just a little more restraint. ***½

Review by Pete Feenstra

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

Next session: Sunday 19 January

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 3 December 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)