Song review: Joanne Shaw Taylor - Wicked Soul

 

For those of you who might have missed it, Joanne Shaw Taylor released a new album called The Dirty Truth late in 2014. When it was released I was super excited as I had thoroughly enjoyed her previous full length releases and couldn't wait to listen to it. Somehow though I just never got around to it (more fool me!) until last night when I heard her new single Wicked Soul.

Let me start this review with the awesome new single Wicked Soul which tells the story of a relationship gone wrong (isn't that what all memorable songs are all about?). A bluesy ballad with some blistering guitar work where she channels the great Stevie Ray Vaughan I was left stunned at the end of the roughly 4 1/2 minutes that the song goes for. 

While the guitar work shines on this song it also clearly obvious that Joanne knows how to play for the song and while you can hear that she can shred with the best of them, there is not a moment where the guitar work is overdone. As has been said by numerous people in the past the notes you don't play are just as important as the ones you do and this is a lesson Joanne has clearly learned and taken to heart. Add to all of this some soulful organ playing which sits in the background throughout and which fills in the gaps purposefully left open and you have yourself one hell of a tune that holds up just as well the 10th time you listen to it as it does the 1st. 

Lastly the lyrics of the song and the Vocal delivery really paint a great picture also and leave you feeling like the like the person singing them has really lived them which is the sign of a truly great singer.

As for the rest of the album you have touches of country, Texas blues and Chicago blues style shuffles. Other highlights include Feels Like Home and the title track The Dirty Truth where the guitar work shines just that little bit more than the rest of the album. 

Yet another quality release by perhaps the first of the new breed of female blues artists let's hope she continues to release music of this calibre long into the future.