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Journeyman Records [Release date 07.06.24]
Joanne Shaw Taylor’s ‘Heavy Soul’ is a decent album with a handful of good songs, some fluid guitar playing and moments of intuitive band interplay, but the inclusion of 3 covers and the overall aim of fitting a radio friendly mould smothers her natural instincts.
You could argue ‘Heavy Soul’ is a relationship concept album, which would justify the inclusion of the covers.
The homogenous production values also serve to smooth out the rough edges to the point that deep in the album the gospel influenced ‘Devil In Me’ is rendered a curiously mixed back affair and lacks a cutting edge.
On the upside, there’s still plenty of quality music here, born of dexterous playing, subtle band interplay and plenty of chunky grooves which act as a launch pad for a variety of music.
The stumbling block is the misleading album title itself, which calls into question the definition of soul.
While there’s undoubtedly an undertow of musical intensity, rhythmic tone and a consistent pop sensibility, the album is hampered by a sense of emotional detachment.
‘Heavy Soul’ has a lot resting on it, both in terms of being the thematic cornerstone of the album and a musical counterweight to what’s gone before.
Happily it’s a worthy title track which gives the album extra impetus and a greater sense of urgency feeding into one of Joanne’s fiercest guitar solos on the album.
The problem with this album is that it doesn’t breathe enough and let her fulfil the potential of her own material.
The choice of covers and a lack of emotional engagement hampers an apparent attempt to reposition her rock blues bluster in a contemporary soul market.
For example, while the acoustic wash of Joan Armatrading’s long distance love song ‘All The Way From America’ nicely fits the album’s reflective mode, it feels too much like a blatant commercial cash-in on the current popularity of soul.
No one seriously expects a talented artist like Shaw Taylor to be stuck in aspic in the rock-blues niche which originally helped her break out of the UK club circuit to international attention.
But she doesn’t quite have the voice, or more generally speaking, the clarity of diction to convincingly tackle ballads like Van Morrison’s ‘Someone Like You’ which borders on the ponderous.
You could argue the inclusion of the funky Gamble and Huff ‘60’s penned ‘Drowning In The Sea Of Love’ offers a different perspective on the album’s overarching relationship theme, but it feels forced.
Put simply, she’s at her best on her own material, as evidenced by the propulsive groove of the opening track ‘Sweet Little Lies’.
An intricately threaded vocal and repeated guitar figure leads to a catchy hook and a resolving taut, sinewy guitar solo which evokes the lyrical angst.
‘Black Magic’ is equally satisfying, casting a relationship in a much more positive light as part of a boogie shuffle with the emphasis on the words and groove.
It also provides the moment when the album finally seems to spark, albeit it’s compromised by an all too soon finish.
She hovers over the lascivious ‘Wild Love’ with soulful snappy phrasing, while the band locks into a funky groove driven by Anton Fig’s tic-toc percussion; Alison Prestwood’s lilting bass and some layered keys, which gives it an 80’s feel.
‘Heavy Soul’ is very much shaped by Kevin Shirley’s production and two seperate mixes by Shirley and Bob Clearmountain, who both adhere to the primacy of a compressed sound in search of flow and balance.
And somewhere in the middle of it all is the significant talent of JST who every now and then sparkles when give the opportunity.
There’s also a constant tension between the soul and pop elements, as on the MOR feel of the Carmen Vandenberg co-write ‘A Good Goodbye’.
A self empowerment song, it incorporates a faux gospel fuelled groove on another radio friendly track.
JST rounds things off with the uplifting Beth Neilson Chapman co-write ‘Change of ‘Heart’, a guitar driven pop song which finally nails what the album has been aiming for all along. ***
Review by Pete Feenstra
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