The iconic English singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading has released a new album entitled “Consequences.” Armatrading is still going strong while continuing to embark on a career spanning over 50 years. This new 10-track collection follows Armatrading’s 2018 studio album, “Not Too Far Away.”
The album is a satisfying folk-rock collection of music that shows Armatrading’s versatility and adept songwriting. The title track “Consequences” opens with a powerful and experimental-sounding musical composition that boasts strong songwriting and a post-modern sound that reveals Armatrading’s ability to reinvent herself while, at the same time, maintaining a consistent, high musical quality that becomes harder and harder to find.
“Consequences” is rich, fresh and boasts a number of well-written songs that make it easy to understand why she is a musical powerhouse who is interactive with the times she lives in. She doesn’t lean on a formula that has worked for her time and time again but challenges herself to create art that is visual, sensual and wise.
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian writes, “It’s another album of exquisitely written songs to add to the pile of exquisitely written albums. But maybe ‘Consequences’ arrives at the right moment, chiming with hints that Armatrading is finally getting her due…”
While dawning on the 50th anniversary of her debut album, she chooses not to lean on her past acclaim, which would certainly be appropriate. Instead, she chooses to keep going and refrain from slowing down and nestling herself into the comfortable and safe cradle of her past music which is a vast catalog of work that any seasoned musician would be extremely proud of. At 70 years old, she is a musician of the future who has nothing to prove and, in the most positive manner, has everything to gain.
“Consequences” is available on all streaming platforms now. Physical copies of the album will be released in August of 2021 from her record label, BMG.