Review: Leila Adu - "Dark Joan" - Frizz Records [2009]

[MuthaWit]

Hel. Daughter of Loki. Queen of the Underworld. Under the headphones you can feel her seductively walking towards you.

Leila Adu’s ambitious solo album “Dark Joan” opens with “Helfire” an a cappella song showcasing the multi-octave artist bellowing like an angry town crier warning listeners away from a life of apathy and greed. It is a very dramatic entre to the London born and New Zealand bred Adu’s powerful third album. Produced with analog warmth by Steve Albini, the legendarily principled producer of PJ Harvey, Nirvana and Helmet et. al, "Dark Joan" exists in some dark yet playful purgatory between jazz, rock, classical and pop. Armed simply throughout the rest of the album with a supple voice, sharpened lyrical sword and various pianos/organs, Adu's “Helfire” serves as a fascinating harbinger of the many musical challenges to come.

i.e.

“Ode to the Unknown Factory Worker” storms in with piercing organ stabs alluding to the rhythms of industrial machines cranking away. The sound of the organ dangerously distorting while Adu sings “Still got my teeth and my 9 pairs of shoes” adds just enough edge to let one know that despite the minimalist instrumentation this will not be a Yanni experience. The song is anti-materialist but Adu is no rosey idealist as she questions her connection to the common man by punctuating each passage with a sarcastic “Oh, am I torturing you?”

“Moment of Peace” is a quirky meditation on surrendering to technology. A gently unfolding chord progression allows Adu to reflect on the greener pastures of her birth while whispering "ego is causing me pain/allow me one moment to forget my name." Before the silence can be claimed the piano explodes into a paranoid loop where she mutters in a detached monotone voice “Please press one” multiple times. “Moment of Peace” is somewhat cynical, yes, but really is there anyone out there who disagrees with Adu's belief that automated answering machines suck?

"Dark Joan" appropriates the heroic persona of Joan of Arc as divine inspiration to fight for the rights of the innocent and abandoned among us. A frantically repetitive harpsichord figure opens the song navigated by Adu casually chanting “I’ll go by myself if I have to." The social commentary becomes more pronounced as she pounds blocks of dissonant chords in counterpoint to the established pattern. This section of the song is accented by the provocative lyrics “I can fight with needle and a thread/Words and voices impaling your head/All the King’s horses and all the King’s men/without love in your heart/your finery won't defend your soul.” Shortly after declaring that there is “no time to waste your potential at the mall” Adu chooses to multi-track her vocals until they are a wailing army of mythological Sirens luring the greedy haplessly to their death at sea. Yeah, I’m reaching for imagery but I dug the title track a lot, dadgummit.

“Wolfmen” is by far the most aggressively rhythmic song on the album. The way Adu attacks the keyboard would make Little Richard scream “Shut Up!” with a gleeful smile on his face. Indeed, “Wolfmen” fairly catches the spirit in its connection to the primordial origins of rock n roll. Yet the song is not a pop throwaway at all as evidenced by the lyrics “Houses burning/my feet are not/My skirts are burning/my feet are not/My world is churning/My butter is not.” The lyrics impart that the advances of Western Civilization have so unraveled the fabric of our lives with construction, technology and big media that we are due for a purging of sorts. The purging officially begins at the 1:54 mark when Adu opens the music up into an ambient piano wash. Her resplendent soprano delivery of the line “A love that never dies” during this passage of “Wolfmen” ties her to the wonderful vocal legacies of Josephine Baker, Arooh Lemeen, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald and Roy Orbison. Adu’s phrasing here is THE MOMENT that makes “Dark Joan” as a collection of songs magical for me.

“Stop Me Now” feels like a steady climb up the side of a mountain covered in sheets of glass. It doesn’t so much move forward as it slides through the changes until it climaxes with the solemn words “doesn’t seem fair to leave/when I can still remember.”


The sublime ballad “Naïve” closes the album elegantly by declaring that no matter our circumstances we are never truly alone or damned to our current status. The words delicately capture the tenuous dance between love and forgiveness by stating “We are naïve to believe/we can love only one./How can creation be captured/in only one hand?” "Naive" is a beautifully melodic and soulful showcase for Adu’s command of subtle operatic vocal techniques and emotive piano playing. It is also easily my favorite song on the album due to it's enduring simplicity.

My musical tastes have always inclined towards compositions that start one way and evolve into an entirely different vibration by songs end. Leila Adu has filled “Dark Joan” with several dark gems that will reward the expectations of the patient listener. It tickles me to imagine Steve Albini's reactions to her penchant for tossing aside formulaic pop music rules. No matter how far afield Adu goes, however, there is an internal logic and sense of humor in place that errs on the side of hummable melodies. Her work practically begs to be engaged in a live hall setting with Pilobolus movement artists, Takayuki Fujimoto theatrical lighting, Shirin Neshat video imagery and a banging libretto.

Helfire on Broadway or at The Met anyone?

R


www.leilaadu.com
www.urbalt.ning.com/profile/leilaadu
www.frizzrecords.com

[F R I Z Z R E C O R D S]

If anyone wants this on vinyl or CD, you can mail order it direct from http://www.frizzrecords.com

and it's on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/dark-joan/id334154897

if you're in the UK it's in the shops too...other coutries coming soon!

[Kambui]

Leila Adu and Art Terry are the new Crack!

Leila's album is so good that I found myself looking for reasons to justify why I've been playing it so much. Just like a crackhead would...

But I don't need an excuse. It's simply a great album.

Your assessment and sentiments are so on point...

song currently stuck in my head: "i cried for you" - freda payne

[Tania]

Leila is amazing...this review does her justice!!!

[Mills Projects]

Superbly beautiful 8-))

[Makini]

wow, awesome review. I've been away too long...why did I forsake the know that Mutha....WHY!!!!!
she is an awesome crooner fa sure

[mr sterile Assembly]

Nice review, I always loved the true raw power that Leila would belt out with just her voice and a piano.
can't wait to get my mits on a copy.

[Ed Marshall Photography]

I'm a big fan of Adu.