Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The same fierceness, the utmost resolution in performing, a will and determination that has seen her become the undisputed queen of modern British Blues, and one to whom the listener at large falls for as they regale in the memory of songs she has placed before them; a modern British sensation on the world stage, a woman of substance, Joanne Shaw Taylor is Nobody’s Fool.

It may be the same rampaging spirit that inhabits the new album, however the performance, the sense of slight alteration in presentation from the Midlands’ born and on the Blues road raised, is one that is truly remarkable; the same sublime guitar playing is evident, the lyrics are deep felt and full of guts, glory, and feminist assurance, but the signature has changed, and whilst the album, Nobody’s Fool, perhaps comes out of a time of grief, there is an independence, a recognition that the music has evolved onto another plane.

To suggest that the album is the artist’s finest work to date could be seen as a disservice to the sheer sense of the extraordinary that has come through so far in her career.

Far from it, it should be recognised that albums such as White Sugar, Almost Always Never, The Dirty Truth and The Blues Album are in their own right, recordings of the highest quality and sincerity, and yet as tracks such as Bad Blood, Just No Getting Over You, the superb Then There’s You, Runaway, the absolute enormity that comes with doing the impossible of matching the strident vocal of Annie Lennox in the cover of the Eurythmics’ Missionary Man, which also features the incomparable Dave Stewart, and the drama that comes in the penultimate track of The Leaving Kind, the sheer depth of emotion that is rung out is enough to break hearts, reconcile dreams, and capture the essence of a soul placed upon this Earth to make music absolutely.

To be the best, you play with the best, and with Joe Bonamassa appearing on rhythm guitar, as well as Josh Smith, Lemar Carter, Calvin Turner, Deron Johnson, Danielle De Andrea, Gaby Moreno, Jeff Young, Tina Guo, Carmen Vandenberg, and the aforementioned talent of Dave Stewart, all adding colour that blooms in the appreciation of the musical vision performed, Nobody’s Fool is an album that is surely amongst the finest of 2022.

Nobody’s fool, but everyone’s modern Blues guru, Joanne Shaw Taylor has reached new heights in this outstanding innovative album.

Joanne Shaw Taylor’s Nobody’s Fool is out now and available on KTBA Records.  Ian D. Hall