RECORDS Taking It to the Limit

Rip It Up, Issue 18, 1 December 1978, Page 12

RECORDS Taking It to the Limit

Joan Armatrading To The Limit A&M On her Show Some Emotion recording. Joan Armatrading. native of the West Indian island St Kitts, summons an image that seems particularly suitable to her adopted. home in South London. "Woncha Come on Home", is a short plea for the return of a lover. An evocation] of urban fear, the song describes its protagonist sitting in a flat of empty rooms, the lights nervously kept on in each Meanwhile he or she is convinced: There's a madman Standing on the corner And he keeps on looking At my window . . . A common misunderstanding of this type of symooi. frequent in Armatrading's work. has tampered Joan Armatrading's reputation Resorted by tne press as nervous and reticent. e**!C entiy shy on stage Armatrading has been assumed an introverted singer-songwriter. One s ed to bei'eve a song iike Woncha Come -iome s the personal confession of nights seen; in sleepless anxiety l: may come as a surprise that Joan Armatradng flatly denies she has a confessional urge. In a variety of statements she has said that she writes, not m the first person but as a dramatist She places herself in the position of people she •mows sees, imagines Close examination reveals for instance, a surprising narrative content on Show Some Emotion one . song aoout committing armed robbery Perhaps it is true that because Armatrading s dramatic scope has been fairly limited, primarily concerned with personal relationships, she has restricted herself. To the Limit redresses the balance, for both lyrically and musically this, her newest record, broadens her range significantly. The primary thing to applaud is the album's execution. Wanting more bite. Armatrading and producer Glyn John, opted to record much of the material live in the studio .The result is a marvellously relaxed feeling in the playing which, all the same, contains a spirit and convic-

tion not often found,in.studio layering On the reggae Bottom to the Top the band are cohesive: in the more jazz and blues influenced Barefoot and Pregnant" and "Wishing"' plenty of room is left for Armatrading's tone variation and vocal glissandos. Throughout pianist Red Young and sax-player Quitman Dennis add textural highlights with considerable skill and taste. The musical adroitness of Armatradings musicians seems a logical extension of remarkably subtle songwriting. On To the Limit Armatrading pursues a range of emotions from the spiritual optimism of Taking my Baby Uptown I said

A walk with God is the best to the bitter and worldly sexual recriminations of You Rope You Tie Me Don't upset, don’t embarrass me baby Don’t show your body Your body don’t make it. Although Armatrading s themes remain constant (love, jealousy, revenge, desire) her grasp of them appears to have gained objective strength For this reason alone Joan Armatrading deserves to win broader support than she has already with her reputation for introversion.