To Survive

We’ve been looking forward to this one. Real Life, Joan Wasser’s second album, can stake a more convincing claim for classic status than many of our most recent (and lauded) contenders. Emotionally frank, expertly crafted and filled with songs to die for – in one move, it lifted the New York based singer free from the lumpen hordes of Martha/Rufus/Antony collaborators, and placed her on equal footing with her more celebrated chums.
Real Life – as the title suggested – wore its emotional battle scars like badges of honour. But, and this is what made it adorable rather than just admirable, where possible it aspired towards optimism and hope. It’s great, then, to find a similar impulse informing To Survive. Once again it’s a record of heartbreak and doubt, but more importantly (and befitting a set of songs that culminate, in ‘To America’, with the sound of fireworks exploding) – it’s also infused with faith, joy and romance.
“Love you with the fire of my namesake, she sings on the Stax-infused ‘Magpie’, going on to reveal that “What I’ve learned from St Joan/Is heed the voice in your heart.” It’s a promise she more than lives up to.
So, in the album’s slow-build, simmering opener ‘Honor Wishes’, we hear Wasser demand respect from a lover; on ‘To Be Lonely’, to accept sadness as a fact of life; and, most impressively of all, in the wintry, gorgeous title-track, provide a step-by-step guide on how to piece together a broken life. There are cameos from Rufus and David Sylvian, but, make no mistake, there is one presiding personality that lights these songs up. And, by brilliantly maintaining the sky high standards of her debut, Joan Wasser now deserves to be treasured as one of the most eloquent and moving songwriters of our time.

Key Track: ‘To Survive’