The first new album from Joan Armatrading since 1995’s What’s Inside is an admirably unpretentious collection. She may have left behind the bedsitter image long ago, yet her songs continue to deal in the currency of romantic love, only now from the dignified perspective of a mature woman who has no illusions but still has her dreams. Armatrading may be strictly Radio 2 these days, yet in her time she was a role model every bit as groundbreaking as Ms Dynamite today. For that, she commands not only our love and affection but our total respect.
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