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Average: 3.5 (38 ratings)
- Date Released: June 9, 2008
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock
- Label: Cheap Lullaby Records / The Orchard
A raw and beautiful soundtrack to living with hurt.
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We Say...
Joan Wasser’s songs of loss are rooted in true-life experiences but the seductive tones of the music often disguise the harrowing honesty of her lyrics. The passing of her beau Jeff Buckley informed much of her debut, Real Life, while her mother’s death from cancer last year was plainly the catalyst for the emotional nakedness of To Survive. At times, her voice recalls the chilling detachment of Nina Simone or Billie Holiday, like on “Honor Wishes,” its funereal pacing, augmented by an understated back-up vocal from David Sylvian. It’s an album heavy on atmosphere and understated instrumentation, which serves only to compound the impact of words that refuse to pull their punches. Some of it may initially sound discomforting, but repeated exposure reaps rich rewards.
“To America,” a duet with Rufus Wainwright, draws parallels between her parent’s suffering and the perceived decay of her homeland, while “Magpies” wrestles with the difficulties of confronting both universal and personal fears. Buckley’s and Wainwright’s own songs are a clear template, although her nearest contemporary might be the skewered confessionals of Leslie Feist. Delicate and spectral, but with genuine substance. -
They Say...
If To Survive is any indication, Joan Wasser's life after Real Life is calmer, but no less thoughtful, than it was before her beautifully stormy debut album. Real Life was a major statement, filled with a lifetime's worth of catharsis. To Survive doesn't try for that scope -- as the title suggests, these songs are about day to day concerns that are no less vital: aloneness, togetherness, love, hope, and righteous anger. However, Joan as Police Woman's "beauty is the new punk rock" aesthetic is used just as powerfully here, with the same kind of delicate bravery and strong vulnerability. Wasser can still set a scene like few others: "Honor Wishes" drops listeners into a sultry heart to heart, and the way she draws out "Would you love me? Would you trust me?" as she sings is as wounded as it is seductive, turning the song into a dance of understanding between two people in the middle of the night. A pair of songs make up To Survive's heart: "To Be Loved" is hopeful but bittersweet, celebrating new love and recognizing what it took to get to it with soulful brass and realizations like "when you found me I could not be loved, but then I found me and I'm happy to be loved." "To Be Lonely" is bittersweet but hopeful, wishing for lasting love with hypnotic, incantation-like simplicity and yearning pianos. These mirror image songs reveal the yin-yang chase of love and loneliness so well and so intimately that everything else on To Survive could be mediocre and it'd still be well worth hearing, but the rest of the album is nearly as strong. The easy, elegant sensuality that peeked out on Real Life from time to time is in full flower here, playfully on "Holiday" and more insistently on "Hard White Wall," where soft harmonies and keyboards contrast with driven rhythm guitars. Rebirth and gratitude are also major themes on To Survive, and though it's often more challenging to write about happiness in a meaningful way, Wasser finds unique ways to channel those feelings on the luminous tribute "Start of My Heart." Sonically speaking, To Survive is softer and cleaner than Real Life, in keeping with its more serene outlook. This works especially well on "Magpies'" sparkling melody, but the polished production distances some of the album's more intense moments, as on the politically charged "Furious," where Wasser's outrage and impatience feel a bit removed. To Survive is most affecting with songs like "To Survive," when it feels like you're sitting next to her on her piano bench. While Real Life was so fully realized that it seemed to have a life of its own, To Survive feels more like songs written by somebody than something that materialized because it had to. On those terms, the album is very, very good, and when it closes with fireworks on "To America," it might not be a completely happy ending, but it shows that in order to survive real life, it's necessary to embrace the uplifting parts of it as well as the desperate ones.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Honor My Wishes
|
4:37 |  |
| 02. | |
Holiday |
4:27 | |
| 03. | |
To Be Loved |
3:03 | |
| 04. | |
To Be Lonley |
4:55 | |
| 05. | |
Magpies |
5:06 | |
| 06. | |
Start Of My Heart |
4:33 | |
| 07. | |
Hard White Wall |
4:12 | |
| 08. | |
Furious |
3:24 | |
| 09. | |
To Survive |
5:24 | |
| 10. | |
To America
|
5:41 | |
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Credits
- Peck Allmond - Trumpet // Peck Allmond - Mellophonium // Peck Allmond - Sax (Tenor) // Peck Allmond - Group Member // Bryce Goggin - Organ // Bryce Goggin - Piano // Bryce Goggin - Producer // Bryce Goggin - Engineer // Bryce Goggin - Mixing // Bryce Goggin - Group Member // Fred Kevorkian - Mastering // Ed Pastorini - Organ // Ed Pastorini - Guitar (Electric) // Ed Pastorini - Keyboards // Ed Pastorini - Group Member // Ben Perowsky - Drums // Ben Perowsky - Rhythm // Ben Perowsky - Harmony Vocals // Ben Perowsky - Group Member // David Sylvian - Vocals // David Sylvian - Group Member // Doug Wieselman - Clarinet (Bass) // Doug Wieselman - Sax (Baritone) // Doug Wieselman - Horn Arrangements // Doug Wieselman - Group Member // Nathan Larson - Guitar (Electric) // Nathan Larson - Harmony Vocals // Nathan Larson - Group Member // Timo Ellis - Guitar (Electric) // Timo Ellis - Group Member // Rufus Wainwright - Vocals // Rufus Wainwright - Group Member // Joan Wasser - Organ // Joan Wasser - Synthesizer // Joan Wasser - Guitar (Acoustic) // Joan Wasser - Piano // Joan Wasser - Strings // Joan Wasser - Guitar (Electric) // Joan Wasser - Tambourine // Joan Wasser - Vocals // Joan Wasser - Producer // Joan Wasser - Harmony Vocals // Joan Wasser - Clapping // Joan Wasser - Farfisa Organ // Joan Wasser - Artwork // Joan Wasser - Photography // Joan Wasser - Wurlitzer // Joan Wasser - Group Member // Matt Mahurin - Cover Photo // Parker Kindred - Percussion // Parker Kindred - Drums // Parker Kindred - Tambourine // Parker Kindred - Rhythm // Parker Kindred - Harmony Vocals // Parker Kindred - Clapping // Parker Kindred - Shaker // Parker Kindred - Finger Cymbals // Parker Kindred - Rolls // Parker Kindred - Group Member // Rainy Orteca - Guitar (Acoustic) // Rainy Orteca - Bass // Rainy Orteca - Harmony Vocals // Rainy Orteca - Clapping // Rainy Orteca - Group Member // Maxim Moston - Violin // Maxim Moston - String Arrangements // Maxim Moston - Group Member // Danielle Farina - Viola // Danielle Farina - Group Member // Adam Sachs - Organ // Adam Sachs - Percussion // Adam Sachs - Drums // Adam Sachs - Tambourine // Adam Sachs - Engineer // Adam Sachs - Group Member // Hannah Connors - Layout Design // Erik Lawrence - Flute (Alto) // Erik Lawrence - Sax (Alto) // Erik Lawrence - Group Member
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