Review: Dana Fuchs 'Borrowed Time'

Dana Fuchs

By Mike O’Cull

Ferocious rock, blues, and soul belter Dana Fuchs tunnels deep into the Southern Rock music of her rural Florida childhood on her latest release Borrowed Time. The new set drops April 29th, 2022 on Ruf Records and finds Fuchs standing her ground amidst a gang of crunching guitars fueled by the legacies of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, and The Stones.

Producer Bobby Harlow helped Fuchs stay focused on the task of making a rock and roll record this time out and that’s exactly what Borrowed Time became. The record also leaves behind the autobiographical songwriting of Dana’s previous work and delves into character-driven songs for the first time. “This is my first time telling so many other people’s stories,” she says. “Over the past two years, most people have realized there’s no going back to normal. And really, do we want to? I went back to school and had a baby during the pandemic, so I hope I’m coming from a greater place of wisdom and empathy when I create music now. It was time to get out of myself and deliver songs from another person’s viewpoint. We’re all on this planet together, after all, living on borrowed time.”

Dana Fuchs is no stranger to success and attention. She first came to prominence portraying the legendary Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway smash musical Love, Janis and also appeared in the Golden Globe-nominated film Across The Universe singing The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.” She’s a vocalist, songwriter, and performer of uncommon gifts and has created a body of work full of albums like Bliss Avenue and Love Lives On that stands tall and proud. Hearing her give her talents fully to rock music is sublime and many feel that Borrowed Time is her finest work yet.

Fuchs wastes no time and immediately stomps the gas pedal on the album’s first cut “Double Down On Wrong.” The track is a fierce riff rocker that speaks to the political figures who have brought division and dissonance to so many of our daily lives. Fuchs unleashes that mighty voice of hers and snaps your neck directly to attention just like when you heard Robert Plant for the first time. The band behind her, made up of bassist Jack Daley, guitarist Jon Diamond, drummer Todd Glass, keyboardist Jordan Champion, and guitarist and recording engineer Kenny Tudrick (The Detroit Cobras), goes just as hard and matches Fuchs step-for-step.

The slow and moving “Call My Name” is a beautiful old-school Southern soul ballad that tells a universal love story about two women surviving the Liberian War as refugees in a camp. The strength of emotion in Fuchs’ voice here is beyond measure even though she delivers her lines in a soft, intimate way. It’s a comforting song for difficult times that shows how much inner human turf Fuchs can cover.

“Hard Road” is a loose, Stones-influenced song that really captures the sound and joy of the full band tracking live. Fuchs is fully in her element on this one and leans way into the band’s pocket and her lyrics’ love-gone-bad message. The guitar work on it is sweet and nasty and the rhythm section puts down one blissful bar after another. It’s a perfect rock and roll song in the classic sense and is destined to get a whole lot of bones up and shaking.

“Nothing You Own” is another highly-soulful slow/mid-tempo song initially inspired by the stories of slum residents in Cape Town, South Africa. Dana is capable of an immense empathy that’s the true spark of this character-based track and the rest of the album. She makes you actually feel the lives of the people she sings about as only the most perceptive and aware performers can achieve. Borrowed Time is one of this year’s most compelling musical experiences for Southern rock fans and could well be this summer’s breakout record. Expect to hear these songs everywhere.

Order Link for Borrowed Time

Listen to “Hard Road”