Joan Armatrading today releases her excellent new album, How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean.
After treating us to first track ‘I’m Not Moving’, Joan changed gears with the shimmering 'Someone Else'.
Today, the whole album is revealed including the joyous opener ‘25 Kisses’ - a gift of pure, propulsive joy. Joan’s multiple vocals add on layer after layer of love as she repeats, ‘And I want you every single day and I want you in the worst way’. It’s a spiritual throwback to her irresistible pop masterpieces like ‘Drop The Pilot’, employing warm electronica, touches of disco, celebratory orchestrations and lyrical hooks that could soundtrack love stories for decades.
Already critically acclaimed, How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean sees the pioneering star producing a songwriting and recording masterclass. As usual in her recent history, the new record is a triumph of self-sufficiency - entirely written, produced, programmed and engineered by Joan herself.
The 12-track album is the latest embellishment in a catalogue that opened in 1972 with Whatever's For Us. That LP launched the distinguished career that has led to MBE and CBE decorations, Ivor Novello and BASCA Gold Badge Awards for songwriting, BRIT and Grammy nominations, countless honorary degrees and far more. A whole new generation of famous fans, from Little Simz, to Laura Mvula and Arlo Parks have ensured her legend continues for a new generation.
The intriguing album title is a reflection of where Joan feels we are now, "You can apply it to just about anything, 'How did this happen and what does it now mean?'," she says. "We are in such a weird place at the moment, and you do think, how did this happen? Some of the things we're going through, and some of the things we can say and can't say, and can and can't do – how on earth do we get to this place, and what does it now mean? Where are we going to go now? It applies to all kinds of things. It's like asking a question that you can't answer."
This latest adventure came in the wake of another bold achievement in a history of risk-taking. In 2023, Joan ventured into the world of classical composing for the first time with the world premiere of her Symphony No. 1, performed by the Chineke! Orchestra at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
With fresh songs flowing in its wake, she stepped back into her Bumpkin Studio in April this year with renewed intent and a collection of concise new tracks, only one of them breaking the four-minute mark. There are two instrumentals too, with Joan demonstrating her status as an incredible, underrated guitarist.
Many of the exquisitely crafted songs are intensely perceptive studies on romance and relationships in many phases, from discovery via fulfilment to regret. "It's observational, and yes, very direct," says Joan. "If there was something on there that was about me, I'd say, but there isn't one.
‘I Gave You My Keys’ [the closing track] is a good example of Joan's keen observational skills. “It's just thinking of people who fall so much for somebody and they'll give them everything and really involve them in their world only to find out that, actually, the other person is not doing the same thing. If you give somebody your keys, that's a pretty big statement, isn't it?"
How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean
Tracklisting:
CD
25 Kisses
Someone Else
Irresistible
I’m Not Moving
Say It Tomorrow
Back And Forth
Come Back To Me (If Only In Dreams)
Here's What I Know
Redemption Love
How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean
Now What
I Gave You My Keys
Vinyl
SIDE A
25 Kisses
Someone Else
Irresistible
I’m Not Moving
Say It Tomorrow
Back And Forth
SIDE B
Come Back To Me (If Only In Dreams)
Here’s What I Know
Redemption Love
How Did This Happen And What Does It Now Mean
Now What
I Gave You My Keys
