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Tune in to the XPN Morning Show each Monday to hear, Host, Mike Vasilikos, review XPN's Featured Album of the Week. This week's album is....

Joan as Police Woman - Real Life (Cheap Lullaby)

First a brief history lesson: Joan as Police Woman is the nom de plume of Joan Wasser, a Maine-born, Connecticut-raised, Boston U.-educated singer/songwriter, guitarist and violinist. She was a member of The Dambuilders, a respected Boston band of the early 90's. After the drowning death of her friend and lover Jeff Buckley in 1997, she briefly joined Those Bastard Souls and then embarked upon a career of singing and playing behind some pretty remarkable musicians including Lou Reed, Elton John, Rufus Wainwright, Antony & The Johnsons, Sheryl Crow and others. She began performing as Joan as Police Woman in 2002.

Her debut solo album Real Life is a dreamy, exciting listen. Her songwriting is just so strong throughout, with standouts including "Christobel", "Flushed Chest", and the absolutely sublime "Eternal Flame". Vocally, she's been compared favorably to Chrissie Hynde, Dusty Springfield and Nina Simone - some pretty impressive company, and JAPW can certainly hold her own up against those big names. As a songwriter, she has the ability to mesmerize or energize. Her voice is her secret weapon... it holds each one of these songs together, and has that rare ability to just take the listener away. Yes, she's really that good.

Already very well known in Europe, there is absolutely no reason that she can't achieve the same kind of success here in the states. Very highly reccommended...

Written by Dan Reed

Click here to see the complete list of WXPN Featured Albums.