Joan As Police Woman, Tony Allen, Dave Okumu: The Solution Is Restless (Vinyl 2xLP)

A joint album written and recorded by Joan As Police Woman, Dave Okumu of The Invisible and legendary drummer Tony Allen shortly before he passed away. Damon Albarn also features on the record released November 5th 2021.

Joan says -

''Damon Albarn introduced me to Afrobeat legend, Tony Allen, at the Africa Express event “The Circus” in London in 2019. Tony and I played Nina Simone's I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free and made a pact to record together in the future. In November of that year, our pact was realised. My old friend and fierce musician Dave Okumu joined Tony and me in a Parisian studio, where we improvised, untethered by form or tempo. I left with the tapes without knowing exactly how I’d use them.

In April I lost a beloved mentor, Hal Willner. Hal created beautiful and unlikely collaborations among artists. Hal appointed me Musical Director of Hal’s collaboration on Neil Young’s songbook in 2004 (Prospect Park) and 2011 (Winter Olympics Vancouver). Grieving Hal’s death, I began creating songs from the Parisian improvisations, only to learn of Tony’s passing while in the studio. As my world became undone, I focused on creating the new album from the Paris collaboration. This production style danced in my mind for years.

The songs are composed in various ways. For some, I used only a one-bar drum loop; for others I created blueprints around basic A/B sections we had improvised. I used the source material in every way possible. The pandemic allowed me to explore and experiment for months in my home studio.

The album title, The Solution Is Restless, is a lyric from one of the songs, Geometry Of You, which muses on the numerical perfection of numbers and geometry applied to a person’s body, heart and mind. Rather than orchestrate an elaborate seduction of a lover, I simply ask them what they want. The answer is my poetic understanding of quantum theory: the solution is restless. The solution to caress a person’s heart is final and fluid, different on a different day, constantly changing.

1. The Barbarian
2. Get My Bearings (feat. Damon Albarn)
3. Take Me To Your Leader
4. Masquerader
5. Dinner Date
6. Enter the Dragon
7. Geometry of You
8. The Love Has Got Me
9. Perfect Shade of Blue
10. Reaction