Among the spinning carousel of contemporary, uber-talented, neo-jazz-fusion demigoddesses, I like to imagine Joan Wasser as undisputed chieftain of the tribeswomen; triumphantly waving a massive red flag over her plebeian subordinates, and quietly schooling Norah Jones on methods of apostasy. (Yeah, my inner life gets that real.)
And that’s precisely why I’m so pumped for the release of her upcoming record, which is apparently supposed to be her “rawest” to date. Entitled Damned Devotion, the long-player is due out February 9 on PIAS, and it’s apparently intended to be a throwback of sorts to the “stripped compositions” and “bared-all lyricisms” of Joan’s “universally-acclaimed” 2006 debut Real Life.
Regardless of whatever the fuck “universally-acclaimed” is supposed to mean, a new Joan As Police Woman records never fail to surprise. And, having worked in the past with the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Beck, RZA, Sufjan Stevens, and Anohni; I’m guessing the ex-Dambuilders violinist has a whole succulent, juicy new supply of trans-genre tricks tucked up her sleeve this time, too. I reckon we’ll just have to wait politely until next February to find out, though…
Actually? Screw that: while we’re waiting, let’s throttle the album’s new single “Warning Bell” down below and pre-order the album on our choice of formats. I mean, that’s probably what a rebel like Wasser would do, right?
Damned Devotion tracklisting:
01. Wonderful
02. Warning Bell
03. Tell Me
04. Steed (for Jean Genet)
05. Damned Devotion
06. The Silence
07. Valid Jagger
08. Rely On
09. What Was It Like
10. Talk About It Later
11. Silly Me
12. I Don’t Mind
More about: Damnbuilders, Joan as Police Woman
