By David O’Neill

Artwork for You Still Got Me by Beth HartI reviewed Beth Hart’s album ‘War In My Mind’ for ÜR way back in 2019 and was immediately hooked by the power, soulfulness and sheer emotion expressed in it. Having followed this review with the one for her ‘Tribute to Led Zeppelin’, it placed her firmly in my regular listening to music that impressed me.

She had previously astounded none other than Slash on his 2010 album ‘R’n’F’R’ with ‘Mother Maria’. That album obviously led to Slash lining her up to contribute to a sensational version of ‘Stormy Monday’ on his latest album of varied contributors.

The reason for extolling this relationship is the opening track on this album is another collaboration with the guitar maestro on ‘Savior With A Razor’, a stunning track that significantly outlines the writing and vocal abilities of Beth Hart. It’s a track that you could envisage being played in a smoke filled blues bar somewhere in New Orleans. Whilst you can hear the guitar playing of Slash, the mix is so superbly undertaken that each of the musicians on the track has their space in the atmosphere without withdrawing from the obvious star of the track – the vocals. Oh my god, what a way to start an album!

So after that breathless opening, how do you follow it? Add in another blues power guitarist in Eric Gales on .’Suga N my Bowl’, that’s how. A completely different style of guitar playing but again the star is the rapid fire power and vibrato in Beth’s vocals.

Never being one to shy away from different stylistic influences, the third track, ‘Never Underestimate A Gal’ has a different emotive effect to Beth’s usual expression.  It raises a smile with the vision of her singing in an oasis in the desert whilst the band are doing a sand dance in the background.

After that opening trio, there is a return to her usual blues infused style complete with smoky, muted trumpet adding to the mood alongside her exceptional piano playing in ‘Drunk On Valentine’. A real change in humour comes next on ‘Wanna Be Big Bad Johnny Cash’, with a real honky tonk, boom-chicka-boom country swinging tribute to JC, so much so that you can imagine the man in black playing the guitar part in the background – another smile raising, line dancing, yeeha!of a track.

‘Wonderful World’ is an uplifting expression of positive emotional outpouring in a gentle vocal style with subtle instrumentation underlying her vocals throughout. ‘Little Heartbreak Girl’ is another try at supporting peoples attempts at doing whatever they want without getting too disheartened by criticisms. It has a real singalong feel to the hook and a really great piano break in the middle section and the piano piece towards the end has a real Let it be feel to it. This is going to be a real earworm.

After that you get BOOM… an intro you wouldn’t expect before the quieter piano section for the first verse on ‘Don’t Call The Police’ and the return to the intro section under the title lyrics of the chorus. This is how the track swings from the loud chorus section to the quieter vocals and piano of the verses. The guitar solo at the breakdown is spectacular and the kick drum beat outlines a heartbeat throughout to emphasize the mood of the track until the outro reaches its crescendo and the drum beat stops.

Never being one to be afraid to express her feelings in her songwriting, Beth follows up with the track that really makes you want to give her a huge hug on title song, ‘You Still Got Me’, and that is what the track really does, as it progresses through the vocal mood swings. This is another superb track.

Another mood swing to a real blues-infused piano vocal opening to the track ‘Pimp Like That’. The lower register of Hart’s range is explored and given its head with maintenance of vibrato throughout adding mood to the track. Another track for a smoky dive blues bar. The final track is called ‘Machine Gun Vibrato’, a real upbeat expression of her vocal style with periods of vocal acrobatics in the track to match the title.

All in all, this album has a wide variety of moods and styles that will take you from low to high and back again, raising smiles and encouraging foot tapping and singing along the way. I for one am looking forward to finally getting to see Beth Hart live in February next year. If you like any of her previous music you will also love this.