Joan As Police Woman, the review of the album Lemons, Lime and Orchids

Lemons, Limes and Orchids escapes the frenzy that we accept and take for granted every day. The latest album by Joan As Police Woman (aka Joan Wasser) is full of fragile details and elegant that deserve to be heard, not felt. They cannot be caught while shopping, driving to work, or in the umpteenth playlist that flows the same way in our headphones, week after week. It is an airy, calm record, that we must give the opportunity to amaze us, to transport us. That we must allow to have our full attention for the approximately 47 minutes of its duration. A beautiful album.

Twelve tracks that oscillate between the soulThe jazz And the alternativein which the American artist expresses all his knowledge about love and loss (which we cannot help but trace back, at least in part, to the relationship with Jeff Buckleydramatically broken by the drowning of the Californian musician in 1997). A skill sung effortlessly, naturally and tastefully. In an emotional but at the same time lucid and aware way. Trepidation and melancholy have sewn a perfect dress around the voice by Joan Wasser. She is the protagonist of the album, the voice. The choice of recording technique – in direct takewhile the band was playing live the songs in the studio – is consistent with the work. It fulfills the desire of authenticity of the songs.

It is the twelfth album of a prolific and eclectic musician, who during her career has experimented with almost everything. From classical to punk, passing through rock and R&B. With Lemons, Limes and Orchidsfurther deepens its relationship with the electronic soundswell-balanced within the arrangements, with touches of originality (the atmosphere of The Dream is built from a loop of sighs by the artist herself). Special mention for the title track: the hypnotic waltz Of Lemons, Limes and Orchids perhaps accompanies one of the most popular texts poetic of the album. Part lullaby, part ballad, this song has the ability to build scenarios. Neopsychedelic.

The new work comes out three years after The Solution Is Restless – the disc recorded with Dave Okuma of the Invisible and with the Nigerian drummer Tony Allenwho passed away in April 2020 – and six years after Damned Devotion, the last album signed by herself. To celebrate it she is ready to start a tour which will touch four continents and will also arrive in Italy, on two occasions: on October 17th in Milanat Santeria Toscana 31, and on April 4th at Angelo Mai in Rome.

Playlist

Jamie – Neurotic breakdown

Colapesce – Happy is he who is not yet born

Fast Animals And Slow Kids – Party