release date: Jun. 12, 2006
format: digital (2007 Deluxe Edition) (16 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,70]
producer: Bryce Goggin, Joan Wasser
label: Reveal Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Real Life" - 2. "Eternal Flame" (4 / 5) - 3. "Feed the Light" - 5. "I Defy" (4 / 5) - 7. "Christobel" - 8. "Save Me" - *12. "Broken Eyes"
* Bonus track on 2007 Deluxe Edition
Studio album debut by Joan As Police Woman (aka Joan Wasser) following the 2005 EP debut (Joan As Police Woman. Joan Wasser previously played violin in Boston-founded The Dambuilders, later in Those Bastard Souls she also sang, and while playing in that band her boyfriend Jeff Buckley tragically drowned in 1997 - the album Debt & Departure (1999) was made processing the untimely death of Buckley. In '99 she joined and played viola in the supporting band for Antony and the Johnsons and she also contributed on I Am a Bird Now (Feb. 2005) but she initiated her solo career under the name of Joan As Police Woman in 2002 - perhaps inspired by Antony Hegarty and their role in Antony and the Johnsons as a band act alias in place of a solo career. Hegarty contributes on Wasser's "I Defy", which is co-written by Hegarty. All other tracks are credited Wasser alone.
Real Life appears as anything but a debut, as it feels and sounds extremely solid and confident despite its unique blend of styles and a play with fragility at the very core. It's jazz rock inspired indie pop with traits of singer / songwriter folk and Wasser sings and croons with her secure vocal as she never did anything else. At times she sounds like a kindred spirit to the Wainwright siblings.
The album came somewhat out of the blue but in retrospect it stands as a highly acclaimed debut. The standard album is a ten-track album with a running time clocking in at 38 minutes, and the 2007 Deluxe Edition adds another six tracks making it a 53 minutes release.
Recommended.
