SHE CALLS her music "punk rock R&B". She also describes it as "American soul music". She cites Al Green and Nina Simone as inspirations, as well as Sonic Youth and Bad Brains. She is Joan As Policewoman.
Joan As Police Woman (aka Joan Wasser ), the American musician, singer-songwriter, and producer, will play the Róisín Dubh on Wednesday August 15 at 8pm. The show is part of her current European tour, promoting her new album, Damned Devotion, released in February via Play It Again Sam.
In a career of more than 25 years, through The Dambuilders and Those Bastard Soulsin the 1990s, before going solo with Real Life in 2006, her first album under the Joan As Police Woman moniker, Wasser has worked with Anohni, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, Beck, Sufjan Stevens, RZA, and Daniel Johnston, as well as fashion designers Viktor & Rolf. “I say yes to almost everything,” Wasser has said. “I just want to be making music all the time. I can comfortably say that music has saved my life and continues to save my life. I am a devotee. It’s not something I can even choose or not choose, it’s just what is.”
Damned Devotion is a stripped back, lyrically raw album, in stark contrast to the more lush sounds of The Deep Field (2011 ) and The Classic (2014 ). "This record is darker and more pensive," she said. "The title is undeniably dramatic but it’s a subject I’ve been tangling with all my life: how does one live a devoted life without becoming obsessed or losing one’s mind?"
Tickets are available from www.roisindubh.net; the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street; and The Róisín Dubh.
