Review: JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN - Lemons, Limes and Orchids (Track by Track)

“Lemons, Limes and Orchids” is the 12th studio album by Joan Wasser, aka Joan as Police Woman.

An album that speaks, in a simplified and synthetic reading, of love and loss. A tribute to resistance, with a particular attention to dealing with collapse and collective disorientation. Joan talks about the power of love and how it leaves us breathless, both for joy and for pain.

A jewel of an album that manifests all of Joan's art in its lyrical and metamorphic splendor.

Musically, “Lemons, Limes & Orchids” follows the 2021 release of ‘The Solution Is Restless,’ the sprawling collaborative album with the late Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and multidisciplinary artist Dave Okumu. The album spanned a sonic spectrum from Afrobeat to jazz, trip-hop, pop-rock, and funk.

In this new work, Joan returns to her most intimate roots and, with her voice and her interpretative pathos, mixes her constant jazz influences with electronic music and melodic structures more akin to pop.

The album features production and instrumentation from an impressive list of collaborators, including Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, Chris Bruce (Seal, Trevor Horn, Alanis Morissette) on guitar, Daniel Mintseris (St. Vincent, David Byrne, Elvis Costello & The Imposters) on keyboards, and Parker Kindred (Jeff Buckley, Liam Gallagher) and Otto Hauser on drums.

A precious album. To listen to and let yourself be penetrated!

TRACK BY TRACK

'The Dream' – “I listen to albums as a whole experience. I put The Dream first to create the atmosphere. An album is a universe. The Dream is a warm and welcoming place that has its eyes open to magic and sadness.”

“Full-Time Heist” – “I wrote this after spending time with someone who was constantly trying to feed their ego with external approval. In the same breath, I can point the camera at myself and watch myself do the same thing. I say, ‘I don’t believe you,’ even to my own reflection.”

'Back Again' – “The songs run through me like diary entries, having to explain what they mean is difficult because I've already explained them as best I could in my song, but this entry includes the optimism of a pop song with the lyrics of a ballad, as many Motown songs do.”

'With Hope In My Breath' – “The beginning of a great love story. It’s about waking up hoping it wasn’t all a dream, how the feeling of hope fills your body, your breath, your skin, your eyes, your mind, even your clothes.”

'Long For Ruin' – “This song is about the human race’s seemingly intentional estrangement from ourselves, from our interest in listening, in finding common ground and compassion, communication and love. We seem intent on destroying ourselves. We seem unwilling to share resources. We seem to have distanced ourselves and in turn each other. In the bridge there is a reference to the need to escape danger. Someone asks another “do you have fire, a light?”, meaning heat or a match to cook a meal, a basic need. The answer is “yes, I have, but it’s not on me”: otherwise, the narrator is unwilling to share his resources. It is the ultimate downfall of our species.”

'Started Off Free' – “A reminder to myself that I basically have no control over anything. This is a love song that acknowledges that love is its own animal with needs and desires that go beyond even the people in love. Love is free…let it be free, it will be with or without my blessing.”

'Remember The Voice' – “This is about memory and how psychedelic it can be. In the course of a day, I might remember flashes of scenery, of someone saying something and the very specific look in their eyes, of the feeling of a street corner. Living in the chaos of New York, spending much of my life on tour, memory feels like a giant tangle of infinitely vast colored threads unfurling like the Milky Way. I recently watched this tangle transform into a perfectly shaped ball, as if I were watching a movie run in reverse. All the sounds and smells, flashes and signals found their way into their place in the puzzle. The fleeting feeling of something, anything, making sense is a great joy that I hold on to and commemorate in song.”

'Oh Joan' – “What is there to do? Some days the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming. The voices that always say “Oh Joan,” are constantly in my head. This song is a release from those “Oh Joan.”

'Lemons, Limes and Orchids' – “Before cell phones and perpetual connectivity, I would wander around New York and purposely get lost. Back then, there were large swaths of New York that hadn’t been developed. I might be the only person on the street for blocks. I guess it was a form of meditation, but I didn’t know what to call it then. I could sink into my sadness and allow the city to revive me at the end. I thank my city for saving me. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

'Tribute to Holding On' – “I wrote this in response to the ever-present urge to “let go”. Sometimes holding on for something or someone is the best idea.”

'Safe To Say' – “Classic breakup/get-back-together song. Both right.”

'Help Is On It's Way' – “Just kidding… A rhapsodic love song that reminds us of the little time we have left, less than we'll ever know.”

SCORE: 8.00

1. The Dream – Score 7.50
2. Full Time Heist – Rating 8.00
3. Back Again – Vote 8.00
4. With Hope In My Breath – Rating 7.50
5. Long For Ruin – Score 7.50
6. Started Off Free – Rating 7.50
7. Remember The Voice – Rating 7.50
8. Oh Joan – Vote 8.00
9. Lemons, Limes and Orchids – Rating 7.50
10. Tribute To Holding On – Rating 8.00
11. Safe To Say – Score 7.50
12. Help Is On Its Way – Rating 8.00