Album Review: Joan Armatrading - Starlight

Perhaps Joan Armatrading should have named this album Me, Myself, I (the name of one her big hits), as she has taken total control, playing all the instruments herself. The jazz approach is a long way from her '70s pop hits like Love & Affection and Drop The Pilot, which put her name on the map years ago. This album is the third in a trilogy that ends the roots music cycle she started out on a few years ago. Starlight is a jazzier affair and less blues affected than Into The Blues and This Charming Life, her previous two releases.

The opening track, Single Life, is a perfect reminder of her ability to write personal lyrics in a simple and unaffected manner. The title track is another highlight that manages to mash jazz with her pop sensibilities. Her deep timbred voice at times makes her sound like a crooning soul singer and adds emotion to these personal experiments in jazz and pop.

The jazz elements keep getting stirred into the mix just when you think things are settling down into a standard format. Close To Me is a jazz-infected track that suits her groove and style and doesn't sound forced. Ironically, it's when she gets a bit more pop-oriented that it feels like we are hearing the Armatrading that is so ingratiating. The Way I Think Of You is perfect, embracing all the roots styles she is obviously so influenced by.

Starlight is nowhere near perfect and does suffer under the weight of her own ideas of where jazz sits with her songwriting abilities. It is a pleasant reminder that someone who has written some remarkable songs is still challenging herself.