Joan Armatrading - Into The Blues

For those of my generation it's always a cause for celebration when a 70s star, presumed long squeezed dry of creative juice, re-emerges with fresh inspiration and something actually GOOD. So put aside recollections of "Love and Affection" - Joan has taken to the blues with relish. All her own compositions, but with some real edge coming through - she's picked up her electric guitar and the voice is still fantastic. "Play the Blues" seems to be a tribute to John Lee Hooker from what I can make out. She sings "Baby when you play the blues I could take all my clothes off for you". (Steady on Joan - at our age some things are best left covered, but I'm sure he would appreciate the sentiment.) The pace and the acid picks up on tracks like "There aint a girl alive (who likes to look in a mirror like you do"). And if you download it you get a bonus track - a roustabout shuffle "Can't push me down" which is for me the best track of all. Sounds like they had a lot of fun recording it and so far it has become a regular destination when selecting something to get me through a long tedious car journey...