Joan Armatrading speaks about her new single: “Natural Rhythm’s got right inside my soul, the pulse is slow but my heart beats fast!”
“Natural Rhythm’s got right inside my soul, the pulse is slow but my heart beats fast!”
On July 31st 2021, international music legend, Joan Armatrading does something she has never done before in her career – her first livestream concert will take place for fans across the world.
In 2015, Joan Armatrading decided to call quits on long haul touring, not for her any longer the grueling slog across the world for years at a time but she made it very clear she was not retiring from live work for good, just limiting the time spent on the road. In fact, she stated categorically she would never retire as she writes because she loves to and now, even in these pandemic-ridden times, a special once off concert will be globally streamed at 21h00 South African time (20h00 BST). Joan will be playing the concert with her band and the show will feature not only new material, Consequences, but also some of the best known and loved songs from her illustrious 50+ year career.
Always a consummate performer, this will be an event not to be missed. Tickets for access to the concert are available now from https://joan.lnk.to/Livestream and are priced at £24.00.
Joan Armatrading’s 22nd studio album, Consequences was released on 18 June and within the first week shot straight into the UK Top 10. This is one of her most intimate and direct albums yet and one that wears its conscience and its heart on its sleeve. "I feel as excited about this album as I did when Love And Affection came out. Butterflies!", says Armatrading.
This week, Joan has released Natural Rhythm, the second single off the album. Speaking about the new single, Joan said: "Natural Rhythm's got right inside my soul, the pulse is slow but my heart beats fast." As with the other nine songs on the album, this single is completely written, performed and produced by Joan herself.
The new single is a jaunty upbeat song in complete contrast to the first single which described a different aspect of love, the moment when one person had already fallen in love and was waiting for their partner to catch up. Natural Rhythm, as with all Joan’s songs has a beautifully crafted lyric which denies being Star Crossed but admits to being lovers and reading each other like an open book.
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Joan has always gone where the muse takes her with no predictability attached. With her heartfelt, direct and melodic trademark vocal style and lyrics that tell it exactly how it is and a strong rhythmic flow throughout, Consequences is an album of some surprises for sure but couched in a passionate intensity that benefits from listening to it straight through from start to finish. A complete aural experience and an uncompromising tour de force that engages and gets better with every listen.
And while the subject matter, love in its many guises, is an intrinsically intimate topic this is not an album about Joan herself but rather, as with all her work, one written from observation and where she has created songs that people can make their own, applying the lyrics to whatever their own particular circumstances might be.
Since the release of her last album, Joan has been made a CBE (from an MBE) become a Trustee of The Princes Trust, been awarded an Ivor Novello Fellowship, and received an Americana Lifetime Achievement Award plus a Lifetime Achievement Award from Women of the Year. Joan completed a major sold-out UK and American tour in 2018 following a massive 235 date world tour in 2014/15.
Among many other accolades she is the first female British artist to debut at number 1 in the Billboard Blues chart, where she stayed for 12 weeks and was the first ever female UK artist to be nominated for a Grammy in the blues category. Although touring is off the table for the immediate future, Joan will be giving a special digitally streamed concert in support of the album, later this year in September. Details of this to be announced nearer the time.
