Joan as the Policewoman
Joan as the Policewoman The Deep Field PIAS
Joan Wasser, former girlfriend of the late singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley, is much in demand as a session musician; the classically trained violist has worked with Antony and the Johnsons, Lou Reed and David Sylvian. But it's her solo albums that reveal her ability - as a musician and singer-songwriter, who puts so much texture and variation into her writing, both melodically and emotionally.
Inspired by artists from Marvin Gaye and Sly and the Family Stone to David Bowie and Stevie Wonder, Wasser displays the diversity of her experiences on her latest album, The Deep Field. It shifts from rocky, soulful numbers such as opening track Nervous to 60s-influenced psychedelic folk such as Flash.
Wasser's third album continues the theme of making connections and breaking free from the past. She claims it's about positivity, but her journey to enlightenment is ragged and full of self doubt: 'I already cried a river so deep, and now I'm ready to heal, I am ready to kneel,' she sings in Flash. 'I've always known, I would die alone.'
The Deep Field is the universe of a 40-year-old woman with an unashamed lust for love and the courage to reconnect after a tragic, complicated but rich journey, narrated through quality songwriting.
