Joanna Samuels has made some impression on me with her previous records. Pretty much a signed up member of the New Laurel Canyon set; Bonny Light Horseman, Cassandra Jenkins, Waxahatchee. Those people. Her second solo venture Bystander, testifies to the value of taking your time over things. Both as a producer of art and as an appreciator of it.
Like the best records, (and striptease artists), it takes a while for it to unfurl its veils. It wasn't until the third or fourth play for me that I realised that it wasn't an uneven record as I'd first thought, but a very finely wrought one, though you definitely need to spend time with it to gain its acquaintance and make a worthwhile judgement. Like a person you've known for a while and suddenly surprise yourself by acknowledging to yourself that you've been in love with for quite some time without realising it.
On first play it's immediately evident that this is record containing a number of fine, arresting lines. But it takes a while to fully appreciate the nuances of songs that sound on first play commonplace and ordinary but are actually anything but. As a result I've given this the best of a week of plays to allow it to sink into me fully before finally putting pen to paper so to speak.
Bystander is worth the effort. There's nothing outstanding about Samuel's voice, or the arrangements here, but there's something quite exceptional about her brain and talent though this may take some work on the listener's part. But I like these kind of records. The ones that demand engagement.
Initially second track Golden Gate is the stand out tune and it certainly has a centrifugal emotional tug each time you play it. Other tracks need more love and attention but soon the whole thing falls into place and reveals itself a keeper. This is some kind of fantastic and Samuels is some talent, though as I've said throughout this review, it may take a degree of application for this to sink home fully. Some things need to take time.
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