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Track Listings
| 1. Honor Wishes |
| 2. Holiday |
| 3. To Be Loved |
| 4. To Be Lonely |
| 5. Magpies |
| 6. Start Of My Heart |
| 7. Hard White Wall |
| 8. Furious |
| 9. To Survive |
| 10. To America |
Product Description
OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY **** 4/5 STARS Sunday May 18th 2008
OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY **** 4/5 STARS
Joan as Police Woman - To Survive (Reveal)
4 stars ****
Joan as Police Woman - To Survive (Reveal)
4 stars ****
Compared to the shambling charm of Britain's pop chanteuses, North American singer-songwriters just sound so damn mature and musically accomplished. There's Regina and Martha and Feist, furrowed brows underneath heavy fringes, conjuring up intricate, subtle harmonies from pianos and guitars while being clever and meaningful.
Former Antony and the Johnsons violinist Joan Wasser is shyer than her contemporaries, hiding behind a funny band name and, on her debut album, Real Life, a Mr Ben-like wardrobe of different musical styles. She couldn't hide her incredibly beautiful voice and soulfulness, though, which made Real Life one of the best albums of 2006. Perhaps emboldened by such positive reactions, Wasser has stripped away the whimsy and playful punkishness on this follow-up . It's much darker, more contemplative territory; the songs are like intimate nocturnes located somewhere between classical and soul. Maybe this is what Chopin would have sounded like had he been a modern-day multi-instrumentalist with a passion for Al Green and a voice like Roberta Flack. Either way, for all her heartfelt mediations on grief, loneliness and desire, Wasser doesn't indulge in gratuitous soul-baring.
Bernadette McNulty
Album Description
Joan As Police Woman's debut album, Real Life, was universally acclaimed. Two years since this critical and commercial success comes the much anticipated follow-up, To Survive. Songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Joan has bewitched fans across Europe and the US over the last two years and is set to garner a wealth of new devotees with To Survive.
An album of unashamedly heartfelt songs, in Joan's words, "I am always trying to dig deeper into the emotional experience. I want to access the most honest place I can, distill it and present it in a way that makes sense musically." Joan As Police Woman is: Joan Wasser (vocals, guitar, piano, violin), Rainy Orteca (bass), Parker Kindred (drums).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
There's something enormously powerful here: this woman's voice, the spare arrangements, the apparently simple yet complex songs. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm smitten. She's capable of an emotional depth I've heard nowhere else, from any artist, from any other music. She did it with 'Real Life' and she does it again here on 'To Survive'. And I was ready to be disappointed when I bought this album. It overwhelms me.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
For once an Amazon recommendation (based on my Blue Nile purchases so quite a tenuous connection) that was correct. I agree with other reviewer's comments about it not being immediate, but I had a sense from the first listen through that this was going to be a 'grower' - to me always a sign of quality.
The music's subtle simplicity hides a wonderful complexity you only get with subsequent - and if you can - quite detailed listening. I was lucky to get this just before a trip to Japan so immersed myself in it on both out and inbound flights. A pure joy.
The music's subtle simplicity hides a wonderful complexity you only get with subsequent - and if you can - quite detailed listening. I was lucky to get this just before a trip to Japan so immersed myself in it on both out and inbound flights. A pure joy.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Elusive. Slippery. Beguilingly and Bewitchingly Beautiful.
The ten songs which comprise Ms Wasser's new album will not
give themselves up easily to listeners looking for a quick
melting-moment fix.
There has been remarkable development since 2006's 'Real Life'
(an absolute stunner too if you haven't heard it yet !)
This is uncompromising writing and performance from a woman
not afraid to move against the mainstream.
The fluid, almost jazzy structure, of these compositions
reeks somehow of a stifling New York City Night.
Compressed and achingly searching for intangible resolutions.
'Honor Wishes' is a brave and austere opening track.
Voice. Piano. Bass. Drums.
Ms Wasser's voice roaming yearningly through and around
the icy keyboard's chordal progressions.
'Holiday' brings us into warmer, more, exotic territory altogether.
The lilting rhythm and melody lulling us into a false sense
of security as we are drawn into the tangled, splintered cacophony
of it's remarkable closing bars.
'To Be Loved' an optimistic and upbeat, yet wistful, reflection
on the possibility of love.
'To Be Lonely', the bruised and bleeding heart of the album.
Raw. Exposed. The intimacy of this shared moment almost unbareable.
'Magpies' delivers one of the most musically satisfying and complex
brass and vocal arrangements imaginable. Another real highpoint.
'Start Of My Heart'. A slow and gorgeously evocative melody and
more words about love to stretch your heartstrings.
'Hard White Wall' is a ducking and diving accoustic guitar led
number filled with complex waves and layers of electric guitar,
synthesiser, drums and vocal harmonies. Stunning.
'Furious' chugs along nicely with the Wurlitzer holding down
a quasi-latin rhythm. Ms Wasser beligerent in the best possible way.
'To Survive' is another pared-down gem of a song.
A lullaby and lament of breathtaking beauty.
The string arrangement a masterclass of affecting economy.
Closing track 'To America' is an ambiguous and ambivalent ending.
The classy brass and woodwind arrangement and not insignificant
contribution from a junior, masculine Wainwright brings the album
to a rapturous close.
Mr Goggin's production and supporting musicianship is inspired thoughout.
A Magificent Achievement.
Highly Recommended.
(I'm tempted to say "Move over Martha" but of course we must keep
room in our hearts for them both.)
The ten songs which comprise Ms Wasser's new album will not
give themselves up easily to listeners looking for a quick
melting-moment fix.
There has been remarkable development since 2006's 'Real Life'
(an absolute stunner too if you haven't heard it yet !)
This is uncompromising writing and performance from a woman
not afraid to move against the mainstream.
The fluid, almost jazzy structure, of these compositions
reeks somehow of a stifling New York City Night.
Compressed and achingly searching for intangible resolutions.
'Honor Wishes' is a brave and austere opening track.
Voice. Piano. Bass. Drums.
Ms Wasser's voice roaming yearningly through and around
the icy keyboard's chordal progressions.
'Holiday' brings us into warmer, more, exotic territory altogether.
The lilting rhythm and melody lulling us into a false sense
of security as we are drawn into the tangled, splintered cacophony
of it's remarkable closing bars.
'To Be Loved' an optimistic and upbeat, yet wistful, reflection
on the possibility of love.
'To Be Lonely', the bruised and bleeding heart of the album.
Raw. Exposed. The intimacy of this shared moment almost unbareable.
'Magpies' delivers one of the most musically satisfying and complex
brass and vocal arrangements imaginable. Another real highpoint.
'Start Of My Heart'. A slow and gorgeously evocative melody and
more words about love to stretch your heartstrings.
'Hard White Wall' is a ducking and diving accoustic guitar led
number filled with complex waves and layers of electric guitar,
synthesiser, drums and vocal harmonies. Stunning.
'Furious' chugs along nicely with the Wurlitzer holding down
a quasi-latin rhythm. Ms Wasser beligerent in the best possible way.
'To Survive' is another pared-down gem of a song.
A lullaby and lament of breathtaking beauty.
The string arrangement a masterclass of affecting economy.
Closing track 'To America' is an ambiguous and ambivalent ending.
The classy brass and woodwind arrangement and not insignificant
contribution from a junior, masculine Wainwright brings the album
to a rapturous close.
Mr Goggin's production and supporting musicianship is inspired thoughout.
A Magificent Achievement.
Highly Recommended.
(I'm tempted to say "Move over Martha" but of course we must keep
room in our hearts for them both.)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great!
Beautifully crafted and heartfelt songs - would be hard put to select any one of Joan as Policewoman's albums as they are all good. Definitely worth seeing/hearing live too!!
Published 9 months ago by Sunny Day!
topclass cd !!
Beautiful cd. top quality. top service (and cheap:-) ).
digi pack was slightly damaged.
Amazingly fast delivery. Read more
digi pack was slightly damaged.
Amazingly fast delivery. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2010 by Olive
Survival Mode
Joan Wasser is, no doubt, one of a very few voices in popular music nowadays worth the full cost of non-pirated recording. Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2009 by MLowry
I Might Survive or I Might Fall Asleep
Upon hearing Joan's debut album "Real Life" I, instantly, feel in love with her voice, lyrics and music; the songs are sweetly haunting, her voice, at times, almost ethereal and... Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2008 by P. Bessell
The Survival Instinct
There's something enormously powerful here: this woman's voice, the spare arrangements, the apparently simple yet complex songs. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm smitten. Read more
Published on 19 July 2008 by A. Strong
Thank you Joan Wasser. You so belong.
Words cannot express how much of a rare thing of beauty this album is, but I simply have to write SOMETHING. Read more
Published on 6 July 2008 by Jdavidson
Survived Real Life?
Supposedly, and I suppose logically, follow ups to a fantastic debut album are notoriously difficult things. Read more
Published on 5 July 2008 by Amplified Man
Listen, Listen, Listen and Listen Again
This is an incredible piece of work which has already burned itself into my soul only three days after its release. Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2008 by J. Parker
Breathtaking.....of course.
The expression `eagerly awaited' may well have been written for this album as far as I'm concerned. For those of us addicted to JAPW debut album `Real Life' for many months in... Read more
Published on 10 Jun 2008 by S. Dinsdale
TO SURVIVE IS AN ESSENTIAL 2ND ALBUM.
Second album from New York's Joan Wasser and Co. sees her in supreme voice and the band on form. Another set of deeply rewarding songs this time with wilder, darker arrangements... Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2008 by T. Rose
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