Joan As Police Woman Joanthology

Joan Wasser a.k.a. Joan As Police Woman releases "Joanthology", her first ever career retrospective, on May 24th, 2019 via Play It Again Sam. The new album will be released as a deluxe triple CD set, including "Live At The BBC", a collection of songs recorded in session for BBC 6Music. There will also be a limited edition sky blue vinyl release of "Live At The BBC" and digital editions.

"Joanthology" spans the first fifteen years of Joan’s remarkable musical output and includes new, rare and unreleased material alongside more than thirty of her most loved songs. Curated and sequenced by Joan and manager Tom Rose (who discovered and released her earliest recordings) this collection showcases Joan’s songwriting chops, her love of music, of experimentation and of life.

With songs from each Joan As Police Woman album: "Real Life" (2006), "To Survive" (2008), "The Deep Field" (2011), "The Classic" (2014) and "Damned Devotion" (2018), it also includes material from her album of cover versions, "Cover" (2009), "Let It Be You" (2016) recorded with Benjamin Lazar Davis, and the lead track from her debut EP "My Gurl" (2004). It also features two new recordings, the self-penned "What A World" and a cover of Prince’s "Kiss", which was recently performed as the encore for her Damned Devotion Tour.

01 My Gurl
02 The Ride
03 Real Life
04 Eternal Flame
05 I Defy (feat. Antony)
06 We Don’t Own It
07 Christobel
08 Honor Wishes (feat. David Sylvian)
09 Hard White Wall
10 Start of My Heart
11 To America (feat. Rufus Wainwright)
12 To Be Lonely
13 The Magic
14 Human Condition
15 Run For Love
16 Forever and a Year

01 What A World
02 Whatever You Like
03 Myrrhman
04 Broke Me In Two (with Benjamin Lazar Davis)
05 Kiss
06 Flash
07 Holy City
08 Get Direct
09 Good Together
10 Your Song
11 Valid Jagger
12 Steed (for Jean Genet)
13 Tell Me
14 Silly Me
15 Warning Bell

01 To Be Loved
02 Start of My Heart
03 Human Condition
04 She Watch Channel Zero
05 Sacred Trickster
06 Holy City
07 The Classic
08 Magic Lamp (with Benjamin Lazar Davis)
09 Let It Be You (with Benjamin Lazar Davis)
10 The Silence
12 Damned Devotion
13 Steed (for Jean Genet)

"I was at the ocean in a tiny house by myself when I wrote this song. I took long walks on the beach singing into the sound of the crashing waves; the surf so big it completely enveloped my voice.

The feelings there were overwhelming and multi-faceted. At the time of writing, I couldn’t get over that the pain, which felt like it would tear me apart, was part of a larger feeling that made staying alive in this world so inexplicably joyful. The lyrics were difficult to write and raw in a way that made me shiver.

When I finished the song, I played it live just a few times at shows, then I put it away.

Over the years, I continued to get asked about ‘What A World’, so I rewrote and recorded it this year.

I combined the initial wild spark with the clarity of years of waves crashing on the shore. Pain and joy. Longing and equanimity. Infinite questions surrounded by endless movement. I’m looking forward to finally sharing it with the world."

- Joan, March 2019