Sisters In Arms by Collin Kelley
Icelandic electronic diva Bjork and English troubadour Joan Armatrading have very little in common musically. However, they are sisters in arms when it comes to independent, creative spirit. While many artists settle into comfortable grooves, releasing pleasant – and mostly uninspired – albums as they mature, Bjork and Armatrading are more vital than ever on their latest releases.
Bjork’s Volta is being hailed as a “return to form” by many critics who missed the driving, dancey beats abandoned on her last two albums, Vespertine and Medulla. While Volta may have more in common with Post or Homogenic, the soundscape Bjork has created is 21st Century tribal. Much has been made of uber-producer Timbaland’s contributions to Volta, but if you’re expecting something as radio-friendly as Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” or Justin Timberlake’s “Sexyback,” keep dreaming. Timbaland may have come up with the big beats, but Bjork has rearranged them to suit her own needs. The stomping first single “Earth Intruders” is not really indicative of the rest of the album, much of which veers from horn-drenched drum ‘n bass (such as on “Wanderlust”) to torchy, whispered ballads. Did I mention the horns? Bjork has suddenly discovered that a brass section can create a sonic wall of sound that suggests everything from a funeral march to a fog horn. Also present is the pipa, a plucked Chinese instrument that adds an odd, but not unpleasant, Asian flavor to many tracks. What is familiar is the
skittering and complex keyboards and electronic sounds that Bjork, Mark Stent and Nelle Hooper (credited for “paternal musical advice”) create that transcend the cold technology.
Perhaps the greatest moment on this album is Bjork’s duet with Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons on “The Dull Flame of Desire.” The song (a translation of Fyodor Tyutchev’s poem) rides a dirge-like horn arrangement, slowly building with Bjork’s howl and Antony’s world-weary soprano trading lines like, “When my love’s eyes are lowered, when all is fired by passion’s kiss, and through the downcast lashes, I see the dull flame of desire.” It’s one of Bjork’s finest musical moments, and she has clearly found her male counterpart in Antony Hegarty. He returns again on “My Juvenile,” written to Bjork’s now adult son, acting as her “conscience” as she learns to let him go: “I clumsily tried to free you from me, one last embrace to tie a sacred ribbon…” Not everything works on Volta. “Declare Independence” sounds like a rejected PJ Harvey tune, which devolves into heavy drums and Bjork screaming the lyrics until it sounds like her vocal chords are snapping. “Vertebrae by Vertebrae” is so brass- heavy that Bjork’s sensuous lyrics are lost in the drone. US listeners will miss Mark Bell’s sexy trip-hop remix of “I See Who You Are,” which is only available on the UK limited edition CD/DVD combo. It’s worth the extra bucks.
Birmingham, England’s Joan Armatrading continues to astound fans and new generations with her distinctive vocal style and completely under-rated guitar playing, which should be corrected with her 18th album Into the Blues. Since the release of her landmark eponymous album in 1976 (which was actually her third), Armatrading has become a musical (and lesbian) icon. Classic hits like “Love and Affection,” “Rosie,” “Drop the Pilot” have cemented her place in musical history. If you want to reduce any woman to tears (and a few gay men…I’m guilty) just put on her heartbreaking “The Weakness in Me.” On Into the Blues (an album Armatrading said she’d been promising to make for years), her guitar chops give Eric Clapton a run for his money. As a matter of fact, Clapton should take a few notes. While he continues to sink into dullsville, Armatrading’s urgent licks and perfectly arranged piano single-handedly resurrects the blues-rock genre.
This isn’t a collection of covers, but new tunes that should find their way into the cannon of blues songs. “A Woman in Love” is better than anything Bonnie Raitt’s done in a decade, with its precision chords and hooky chorus: “Chained to your heart, I surrender, it’s where I belong.” On “Play the Blues” (“When I sing the blues, I take off all my clothes for you.” Go on now, sister Joan!), the dramatic percussion adds a sexy sway. “D.N.A” has a surprising electronic element to it, with distorted and amplified guitars and Armatrading stretching her vocals to sound like Tina Turner in the Ike years. You’d think a song called “My Baby’s Gone” would be a down-tempo ballad, but Armatrading turns it into a funky, high-hat anthem complete with chanted “come back, baby, come back” chorus. “There Ain’t A Girl Alive” is Armatrading in nearly full rock mode, belting out lines about a vain woman more interested in her looks and shopping than love. You might want to get the iTunes version of Into the Blues since it contains two bonus tracks, one of which is the anti-war “Can’t Push Me Down,” a song about a coward with a yellow streak down his back, which verges on gleeful bebop.
Chances are Armatrading is never going to be back on mainstream radio again. Leave it to this musical pioneer to make even classic blues and rock to edgy for AOR radio.
Collin Kelley is a poet in Atlanta, Georgia. He blogs at CollinKelley.blogspot.com
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