The Plough And The Glory

She is always written about in the context of her lover, the late Jeff Buckley and collaborators such as Lou Reed, Rufus Wainwright and Antony Hegarty. In 2011, however, armed with a new album and a new sense of tranquility, Joan Wasser is very much her own woman.

Now, our mothers always told us it’s rude to talk about a woman’s age. So, Joan, what we’re trying to say is... you turned 40 last July.
“That’s not rude,” she says. “Age isn’t rude!”
In that case, how did she feel about it?
“There have been times in my life where I’ve shied away from birthdays and gone, ‘Oh god, I’m getting older!’ I really don’t feel that anymore. I’m happy that I’m even alive at all, just to be talking to you. What I have learned is that getting older is really fun. I feel better and happier each day. There’s no reason for me to shy away from another year. I think about when I was 20, and I was nowhere near as happy as I am now. I was very, very angry, I didn’t have anything figured out.”
Back, then, to the new Joan As Policewoman record, The Deep Field. Having spent her debut finding her voice (she was an accomplished violinist, rather than a singer, for years), and 2008’s To Survive mourning her mother, this is Joan at her most joyous and inventive. The new mood suits her. And what of the title?
“It refers to a small – of course, it’s really magnificently huge – part of the sky that they use to study how galaxies are born. I thought it was so lovely that they chose such a poetic name when they could have called it RX73-something. I’m sorta fascinated with science, with the infinite.”
With Devon prog nuts Muse announcing their plans to be the first band to play in space, would she fancy giving them a run for their money? Joan As Astronaut?
“I have to say, I’m going to leave that to them,” she laughs. “Anyway, that guy’s voice is so powerful we’ll probably be able to hear it back here.”
Working in New York last year with long-time collaborator Bryce Goggins (“I call him Lady Goggins”), she had free reign to try, well, whatever took her fancy.
“It’s really fun to work with Bryce. He sees no reason to have any boundaries or the word ‘no’. ‘Let’s see if we can make it sound like this, let’s throw the piano in backwards.’ I’ve made a couple of records at this point. I feel a little bit more comfortable with the process. I know that I’ll be able to get to the end and be really happy with the result.”
Singing has made her a happier person, she says.
“In the past I felt a lot of emotions I had no place to put. Having that outlet has definitely made me a happier person, taught me how to exist in the world, which is a very confusing place. And ultimately, it has allowed me to be a lot less self-obsessed, not to be, y’know… ‘OH GOD, WOE IS ME!’”
Which, as with everything from Joan, is really nice to hear.

Joan As Policewoman showcases The Deep Field in the Button Factory, Dublin on February 10. You can listen to 'The Magic' on hotpress.com