Review: Beth Hart ‘You Still Got Me’
By Martine Ehrenclou
Beth Hart is fierce. A powerhouse vocalist and gifted songwriter, she is an anomaly—a contradiction—a warrior with an aggressive, almost intimidating stance. She’s also vulnerable, sensitive, allowing the world in to see all the flaws. Raw emotion is her calling card.
The multi-award-winning and Grammy-nominated Hart is recognized as one of her generation’s most talented artists who has collaborated with legends and icons, toured the globe, topped the Billboard Blues charts six times, gone double platinum and more.
Featuring extraordinary guitar players Slash and Eric Gales, Hart’s newest record You Still Got Me is out October 25th, produced by Kevin Shirley at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville, TN, which is housed in a 100-year-old Gothic revival grey-stoned church. You Still Got Me follows A Tribute To Led Zeppelin (2022) and War In My Mind (2019).
The album kicks off with “Savior With A Razor,” a dark rocker with a sinister vibe. It features Slash on guitar whose riffs spring from the soul and surface as pure fire power. One of the best opening songs I’ve heard in a while. It blasts off with Hart singing in her lower register, “I’m only lonely in the crowd.” The towering drums rise and fall, the rhythm section tight. This has Kevin Shirley’s production mark all over it. Hart and Slash couldn’t be more perfect together on this track—both ferocious and insanely talented.
Front loading the album with high energy, guitar-driven bangers, “Suga N My Bowl” featuring Eric Gales on guitar, rolls in with sexual inuendo and a foot stomping beat. Gales’ guitar riffs are edgy live wires. Paired with Hart’s powerful vocals, the effect is thrilling. Hart’s ability to harness the rhythm with her voice, pushes this tune into the groove.
The jazz side of Beth Hart reveals itself with the Tom’s Waits-esque “Drunk On Valentine,” complete with strings and trumpet. Hart plays piano, and you can easily see her in a piano bar atmosphere. Using her voice to convey passion, longing, and loneliness, this is different side to Hart, jazzy barroom-style. A beautiful track, Beth comes alive with a theatrical approach.
After an ode to Johnny Cash with “Wanna Be Big Bad Johnny Cash,” (you have to appreciate her humor) comes an acoustic track “Wonderful World”. A moving love song, Hart shows her impressive vocal range. She sings, “I’m just living for you.” The press information states that she understands now that this song was written for the lineage of the women in her family.
Hart is a talented songwriter. Listen closely to her ballads to get a sense of her strength, such as “Little Heartbreak Girl” and the mournful, piano based “Don’t Call The Police.” Her versatility extends to clever and playful views on relationships. And on others still, lyrics to convey her as a powerful adversary.
Title track “You Still Got Me,” a stunning ballad, is about Hart’s husband who catches her when she falls. There’s tenderness here amidst the strings and tight rhythm section. She’s a master at modulating her voice to convey different levels of emotion. Hart sings with truth—you can feel the authenticity.
You Still Got Me by Beth Hart is a varied and appealing mix of rockers, ballads, and jazz tunes, delivered by one of best artists of our time.
“Savior With A Razor”
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