Track Listing

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 Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10801 in Music
• Released on: 2008-06-09
• Number of discs: 1

OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY **** 4/5 STARS Sunday May 18th 2008
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).

Customer Reviews

A Law Unto Herself
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.)

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 complimenting the lighter more soulful joyous moments.. a sprinkling of jazz,rock and avant -pop.. hard to compare her music to anyone else really.. just more joan as police woman than even Real Life was.. a uniquely talent lady at the top of her game !!! Guests include Rufus Wainwright and David Sylvian. PRE ORDER NOW.

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 2006/7 this couldn't come soon enough. In many ways it feels like a continuation of that album, but in a good way. The production values are similar but Joan has been bolder and introduced some interesting new instrumental textures and layered backing vocals to frame that gorgeous voice with. A voice recorded so intimately it almost whispers in your ear.

At the classic length of ten songs/45 minutes it's another album to listen to from start to finish. It covers a variety of moods and themes, the two central ones being her new love and the passing of her mother. It's predominantly bittersweet and with all the beauty that entails.

JAPW's albums start to really shine after about ten or twenty plays, once the amazing harmonic twists and turns in her songs have had time to assimilate. There's a rewarding compositional depth here that's so very rare, and is treasured by this listener.

Early stand out tracks are the single `To Be Loved' (which seems to capture the entire history of soul music at one delerious point in it's unfolding) `Start Of My Heart' (once a bare piano ballad now a beautiful flower complete with almost Frippian guitar washes, and perhaps the best vocal on the album) and the title track `To Survive' (with strings and breathtaking chord changes that'll make you weep).

The icing on an already delicious cake is a fine duet with the mighty Rufus Wainwright on the album's lead-out track `To America'. That's my summer listening sorted then.