Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The drive to silence the battle that goes on in our thoughts and in our heads is such that sometimes we may feel as if we are two different people fighting for supremacy over what may be considered right and wrong, what is best for us and the realisation that most of the time we want others to be in a position where they are also happy, even if it means we have to let go of our own wish list and potential desires.
Produced by the legendary Rob Carvalho, War In My Mind is Beth Hart’s first solo album in three years and it is one that is beautifully balanced and a fair reminder of how this soulful and expression-laden woman is a true face of the darkest mysteries revealed. She has the ability to lay the truth of her feelings down without being covered up by society and arguably her own thoughts that have been come to whisper through her songs across the last couple of decades.
Therapeutic or cure, it is never our business to determine what music may do for a person, but there is something intrinsically dominant and restorative in Beth Hart’s music, whether on her own or in her triumphant collaborations with Joe Bonamassa, the music is its portrayal of a woman marking out Time with the thought of progressing and being the best version of herself that she can be, an inspiration across gender and age.
Across songs such as the opener Bad Woman Blues, Let It Grow, Try A Little Harder, Spanish Lullabies, Rub Me For Luck and the album’s title track War In My Mind, Beth Hart strides on from the 2016 album Fire On The Floor with purpose, strength and with conviction. It doesn’t matter if life occasionally knocks on the door and finds us distracted, out of sorts or even praying for better days, what matters is the ability to see through the pretence of life and give the command to do battle with it, to not meekly give in at the first bullet or battle cry from Time.
An album which not only does Beth Hart credit, bit one that opens up about vulnerability and recovery, a timeless set of songs that only Beth Hart can deliver.
Beth Hart releases War In My Mind on September 27th via Provogue/Mascot Label.
Ian D. Hall