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Joy Comes Back - Ruthie Foster

I came across this album during my ill-fated attempt to listen to every album released in 2017, and I loved it as soon as it began. I had and still have no idea who she is, but I loved every track. I'm told the opener is a cover of a Chris Stapleton song. I did not know this; information on her albums seems very sketchy, even Discogs, which usually has various versions to choose from, has only the one, and it has no songwriting information. Nevertheless, it didn't sound to me like a country song; for some reason it reminded of me of that Marvin Gaye song about MLK... Anyway it's a great start and it certainly showcases her clear pure voice which kind of reminds me maybe of a more restrained Aretha? The pure blues/gospel sass of "Working Woman" is a real anthem for, if not girl power, then woman power. A sort of grittier version lyrically of Donna Summers' "She Works Hard for the Money", then the title track is pure gospel with a country twang on the pedal steel, sort of thing you could hear in any Baptist church. In fact, replace "joy" with "Jesus" and there it is. Love this; the exuberance in the song, its simplicity and honesty.

The honky-tonk organ is great as is the pianner, and you can just see a crowd clapping along and swaying to this as the preacher exorts them to even greater lengths of praise. Joy comes back, indeed. "Open Sky" has a lovely, as others have said, expansive and wide feel, the idea of walking under a big rolling sky, the muted backing vocals here really contribute to the mood of the song, and after "Joy Comes Back" it's very restrained and sedate with "Good Sailor" keeping things fairly low-key with some fine organ and a sense of Tracy Chapman about the song.

Others have remarked on her cover of "War Pigs", and I would agree it's an odd one to tackle: metal bands usually do metal covers, and when they're attempted by artists outside of that genre they can be pretty poor, and to take on the godfathers of metal is either brave or foolish, but either way it seems a very strange choice for an album like this. That much said, it's very much her version, and I think the harmonica stands in very well for Iommi's punching guitar chords, and of course it's sadly a universal theme in the song that unfortunately never loses its message or impact and is always relevant no matter what age you live in. I think she does a good version, but I would still question the wisdom of covering it.

Back to more recognisable fare with "Loving You is Sweeter then Ever", that powerful gospel-style backing merging with Foster's yearning vocal and the warbling organ line, a simple song of love and appreciation, while she goes almost bluegrass then for "Richland Woman Blues", tripping along nicely on banjo, fiddle and harmonica allied to the guitar; probably my least favourite on the album, which isn't to say it's a bad song, but if there's a weak one, for me, this is it. It's just a little too derivative for me, and I could imagine any country singer from Emmylou to Dolly or Faith Hill to Shania singing this. Meh.

That's soon forgotten though as the heartfelt ballad "Abraham" takes over, with a lovely climbing piano and organ line and a melody that builds to a real climax, slowly and in increasing layers and with great emotion. One of the standouts on the album I feel, and with a powerful, timeless message. We end then on a less powerful but no less lovely ballad, "Forgiven" driven on piano and cello with some nice pedal steel.

Initially, I think I praised this album so much because it came after a rather poor slew of 2017 albums in that list and it was great to hear a good one among them, particularly from an artist I had never heard before. Now though, listening to it for only the second time, my opinion has not changed. Having heard this originally, I downloaded all of Ruthie Foster's discography. I haven't had a chance to listen to any more yet, but I doubt it will turn out to have been a bad decision.

Rating: 9/10

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