ZZ Ward

Liberation

Sun

When the headline says singer-songwriter ZZ Ward returns to her blues roots, understand that she is essentially fronting a blues-rock band that plays a mix of her originals and covers. Yet this blues-infused work has plenty of soul as well. Ward wrote the material while balancing the challenge of being both a musician and a mother. As such, she touches on empowerment and self-discovery while pouring plenty of emotion into these tracks. She did not expressly planning a blues album about motherhood, but it naturally took that direction. She’s never been far from the blues, however, as her father had a hefty blues collection that formed the soundtrack of her childhood, such that she was performing blues music at age 12. Once established in her career, she bent to the wont of industry types that took her in a more commercial direction. Motherhood changed that. She decided to do things her way. Thus the album title, Liberation. ZZ says, “This is who I’ve always wanted to be—a blues artist, on my own terms. It just took me a long time to get here.” Signing to Sun Records adds just that much more authenticity to this venture.

The album is produced by Ryan Spraker (Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Weezer, In This Moment) and features seven originals and seven covers. She is backed by a five-six piece unit comprised of drummer David Brophy, lap steel guitarist Kevin Barry, multi-instrumentalist Spraker who plays guitars, keys, and bass, and trumpeters Russell Nygaard or Jay Jennings, and tenor saxophonist Cooper Nelson. Riley Beiderer adds background vocals to some tracks.

The sequencing mixes her originals with covers, and we’ll focus on the originals first. Opener “Mother” is a stomping shuffle that addresses motherhood as a 24/7 job, punctuated by Barry’s lap steel and blaring horns behind Ward’s wailing vocal. Just about midway through, we have four originals running consecutively. “Love Alive” is the single, with Ward’s voice set prominently in the mix, opening almost in a cappella, evolving into a hand-clapped, porch-like ditty wrapped in a swell of horns and keys. Clearly this is one of Ward’s strongest vocals on the album, as she sings about keeping love alive during the trying times of early parenthood, which brings its share of struggles. The rambling “Naked in the Jungle” is another receiving airplay. This track’s not nearly as clean, with the band at full throttle, at times sounding as if Ward is competing with them to be heard, but once again she unleashes her power. The title track has a soulful groove and a chord progression that resembles “I Put a Spell on You.” Be prepared for the abrupt ending.

“Lioness” is an over-driven blues rocker that would have benefited from a leaner sound. She ends the album with two of her own. “Clairvoyant” is a tasty bit of soul, powered by Spraker’s whirling B3, the horn, and a succinct, effective guitar break. Like so many of these songs, it builds to a crescendo a couple of times, only to pause for Ward’s vocal essentially unaccompanied before it builds back up. Those moments are sublime. She goes out with the raging rocker “Next to You,” one that brings plenty of energy but is overdone.

Among the covers, she speeds up Arthur Crudup’s “My Baby Left Me” to a locomotive pace, a feature for Barry’s white-hot lap steel, while her soulful take on James Crawford’s “I Have No One” hits the mark beautifully. The band revs up for Larry Davis’s “Cadillac Man,” and Ward attacks Son House’s “Grinnin’ In Your Face” with fervor, aided by Barry’s slicing lap steel. “Dust My Broom” is rather generic, but the Lloyd Glenn/Lowell Folsom “Sinner’s Prayer” is a better choice, the band appropriately framing her vocal with sharp guitars from Spraker and Barry. Chris Kenner’s “Something You Got” is a sumptuous bit of soul; like her own “Clairvoyant,” it’s the kind of tune where Ward shines best.

Ward makes a valiant effort, but she may have been better off paring back the number of tracks in favor of an album more weighted by her original songs. A ‘less is more” production approach may have also suited her better. Make no mistake, though; she can sing. Often female singers come off as overwrought with this kind of material, but there’s genuine passion in Ward’s vocal delivery.

– Jim Hynes

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