Joan Armatrading: Into The Blues - 2007

 

After a four-year absence, this album sees the now Whoopi Goldberg lookalike Joan delving into a more gritty, bluesy sound, dedicating the album to the blues, something it was quite de rigeur to do around this period - showing your blues roots and all that. 

However, it is not all regulation blues, tracks like A Woman In Love is actually decidedly Dire Straits-ish. Other definite bluesy standouts, though, are the muscular Play The Blues, the equally superb Into The Blues and the ballsy, tough rock of My Baby's Gone. On all these tracks, Joan shows just what a powerful and underrated electric guitarist she is. 

Something's Gotta Blow is a fine closer to this impressive collection, although the unnecessarily repetitive Deep Down is a bit of a grating low point. That's nit-picking, though, isn't it? The appealing There Ain't A Girl Alive shows that Joan's wry humour hasn't deserted her too. She could always pen a gently witty lyric.

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