Review: ZZ Ward ‘Liberation’

Review: ZZ Ward ‘Liberation’

By Hal Horowitz

Those familiar with ZZ Ward’s work know that she is not your typical blues artist.

The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist’s approach to the genre has always been wildly yet successfully eclectic. After all, no other roots performer has collaborated with musicians as varied as Kendrick Lamar, Fantastic Negrito, Aloe Blacc and Gary Clark Jr.

Her 2012 debut full-length, ‘Til the Casket Drops’, combined hip-hop vocals with rugged blues rock. It was groundbreaking then and still sounds fresh. That innovative, some may say experimental, streak resulted in 2023s independently released ‘Dirty Shine.’ Recorded for her own label, it allowed Ward to explore even darker, more oblique angles of her music, at times even moving into discordant side roads.

But on ‘Liberation,’ she retreats a few steps to emphasize the deeper blues, R&B and rockabilly bubbling under her work. It’s worth noting that this collection is on the revived Sun label, whose rich history in those styles needs no introduction.

The concept running through these 14 songs, about half covers, is parenthood. The opening mid-tempo blues rocking “Mother” addresses the difficulties of balancing her career with raising two young children. She sings in a searing, soulful but not gruff voice slightly reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, “Come do 24 hours in my shoes…see how it feels to be totally selfless/Say goodbye to your moments to breathe.” That’s the conviction of someone as dedicated to her kids as to delivering a grinding, sing-along tune with lap steel crunching out the intensity.

But she’s just getting warmed up.

A scalding cover of “My Baby Left Me” is both a tribute to the King of Rock and Roll, and her new, recently revived imprint, home to Elvis’ original recording. Guitars run through gutsy distortion (think The Beatles’ “Revolution”) for “Next to You,” roaring along with Ward’s sizzling harmonica for an example of how scorching things get when Ward ramps up the heat.

That tune, along with most of the originals, is co-penned by producer Ryan Spraker. He also provides invaluable instrumental assistance with guitars, bass and keyboards, making this as much a joint partnership project as a Ward one.

On “Love Alive,” Ward combines a stomping Delta attack with a more contemporary rock spin creating a song that questions, and hopes, that the warmth with her partner can remain even with challenges that early maternity, and life in general, bring. She injects a frantic Chuck Berry-styled ruckus to “Cadillac Man,” a humorous obscurity, first waxed by The Jesters, another Sun label act, in 1966. The band tears into it with raucous speed, careening around the musical turns as Ward cries the lyrics. It’s as hot and wild as anything she has recorded, but fades out as the band is reaching peak performance.

We move into swampland for “Naked in the Jungle,” using that tropical location as a metaphor for trying to handle life as a mother with “It feels like a stranger is living in my skin.” Wailing lap steel further fuels the anguish as Ward howls, “I feel like an animal running through the night.”

The title track shifts back to a mid-60s Phil Spector-styled vibe as the singer unleashes her inner Leslie Gore for a song that seems like a classic “B” side, but is newly written. It’s her way of wringing the soul out of a song, which she also accomplishes with a cover of Big Jon Hamilton’s 60s gem “I Have No One,” in the running for the disc’s most impassioned moment.

Ward displays her affection for deep blues with Lowell Fulson’s “Sinner’s Prayer,” crying “Lord have mercy on me,” with the vibrancy of Etta James. She zips through Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” with caffeinated enthusiasm and plays ominous harp on the naked sonics of Son House’s “Grinnin’ in Your Face” with only grisly lead guitar and sparse kick drum as support.

‘Liberation’ is the most overtly blues-based, organic and focused item in ZZ Ward’s catalog. Whether it was lifestyle changes due to parenthood or other factors, this tribute and return to early roots influences displays her exemplary talents as a diverse performer, interpreter and singer/songwriter.

Pre-save the album HERE

“Naked In The Jungle”