The Art of Longevity Episode 68: Joan As Police Woman

There are always some central pillars to a great party playlist - songs that just work. One of those is the Joan As Police Woman song Holy City. The song is always an instant hit at parties, guaranteed to elicit excitable inquiries as to “who is this?”. That instant reaction. The song is a #1 hit in my family - one of those multi-generational family life tracks. But if Holy City is instantly likeable, with a great beat and a strong poppy hook, it’s somewhat uncharacteristic of Joan’s music, which is mostly the opposite: seductive slow burns that take their time to become loved. It’s what Joan herself refers to as the eternal quandary of a life making alternative and original songs in today’s music business. “A lot of people are just really busy and they don’t have time to figure out what this incredible new music is that might require 10 listens until you’re hooked”. Then again, after some time away from Joan’s music, it was another of her singles that I was immediately drawn to, the smouldering, unhurried jazzy ballad Full Time Heist, from her new album Lemons, Limes and Orchids. This song, written as a cynical ode to one of life’s chancers, is my song of 2024 and enters into the canon of my all time favourite songs. That’s two for Joan and makes her increasingly one of my very favourite artists. Joan is the ultimate collaborator - entirely comfortable with creating in the moment no matter who she works with - and some of her collaborators have been bona fide music royalty, including Tony Allen, Rufus Wainwright and Damon Albarn (and also David Sylvian although their recording sessions have yet to see the light of day - something I only discovered after my chat with Joan). But an effective collaborator as she is, Joan makes her own records, literally. Right from the start her 2007 debut Real Life was entirely self-funded, subsequently shopped around to labels that would be willing to take it to market. She had a little bit of help for her first E.P. from - of all places an independent record shop in Derby, England. Indeed, store owner Tom Rose of Reveal Records created his own label just to get Joan’s first songs on the market. Tom happens to be Joan’s manager to this day. Going back through the catalogue, it is striking just how high the quality of Joan’s solo output is, most notably her stunning Sophomore record To Survive (2008), the ultra-cool collaboration with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu The Solution Is Restless (released during the pandemic in 2021). And now Lemons, Limes and Orchids - yet another creative high water mark for an artist whose songs have a classic, timeless quality. The obvious question is how does such an uncompromising, singula artist even survive in today’s content-flooded music business? “I practice daily to avoid the whole ‘compare and despair’. Keep the focus on myself and make the best music I possibly can and then I’m a happy person”. If she is happy, we should be too - and lucky to have her making such wonderful music.