The Dirty Truth

The Dirty Truth marks Joanne Shaw Taylor’s fourth studio release and second time working with producer Jim Gaines (the first being on her studio debut some five years ago) with the goal of tapping into some of what drove White Sugar. The record plays out like what we’ve come to expect from Taylor – a heady combination of not-quite-aggressive and not-quite-mellow – but this one sounds a little closer to home for Taylor. Her songs just sort of flow off of the record naturally, almost as though they’d always been out there somewhere and Taylor merely uncovered them and made them accessible. “Natural” is a good term to describe The Dirty Truth and Joanne Shaw Taylor’s aesthetic in general. Everything Taylor does seems to have a certain inertia to it, as though one idea gives way to the next, and to the next, until The Dirty Truth is over and you’re reaching for the “repeat” button. Joanne Taylor says that she didn’t initially set out to be a singer, and that she had a lot of insecurity regarding her voice to overcome. Strangely enough, the most captivating part of Joanne Shaw Taylor’s sound is her rasped, soulful, and absolutely effortless vocal delivery. She sort of croons in a lower register, and it sounds as though it’s no more effort for Taylor than simply breathing. Maybe this is a major contributor to the natural sound of The Dirty Truth. The blues scene has had its eyes on Joanna Shaw Taylor for a few years now, and with good reason. Her blues-gone-rock brand of music is incredibly cohesive, and Taylor does casually what most artists strive for. The Review: 8.5/10 ~Review by Richard MacDougall