I’m not going to lie: relationships and affairs of the heart aren’t exactly my area of expertise. They have, however, provided the inspiration for some pretty fine music over the last 70 years. Probably longer, but we’ll stick with rock ’n’ roll for now.
Joanne Shaw Taylor gets stuck into the subject across these ten tracks, and whatever your understanding of love, there’s plenty to get your head around here.
Produced by Kevin Shirley and released through Journeyman Records, “The Trouble With Love” continues the fine work of “Black & Gold”. The blues remains its foundation, with room for the soul, rock and pop instincts that have increasingly coloured her music.
When she does blues like she does on the opening title track, though, there’s no one better. Her friend Joe Bonamassa joins in, and the pair sound entirely at home. There’s an authority to it all, the sort that comes when musicians have this music running through them.
We might share a West Midlands upbringing, but Taylor lives in America these days, and “Hell Or High Water” has a distinctly American feel. The slide guitar is glorious, but then there’s that voice. “If I keep listening, I won’t be here next year,” she sings, and the way she delivers it makes you stop and listen.
The album’s cover is Celeste’s “This Is Who I Am”, familiar from Sky’s “The Day Of The Jackal”. The keys sound ominous, and there’s an almost jazz feel to the thing. Maybe it is jazz. Whatever you want to call it, it damn sure feels like a statement. Taylor inhabits the song so completely that its place here makes perfect sense. A brilliant performance of a brilliant song.
“Tired Of Being Right” is less overbearing, but you suspect she might be writing from the heart. There’s something about the restraint that makes it hit harder, as if the argument has gone on long enough and there’s little left to say.
“Bad Boy” finds its confidence in a different place. “My face you see when the lights go out” is delivered with the assurance of someone who knows exactly the effect she’s having.
The brilliant Orianthi appears on “What Good Is My Love?”, and it feels like everyone is stretching themselves. There’s a lightness to the music that sits at odds with the words, and that tension gives the song much of its appeal. Heartache doesn’t always have to sound miserable.
“The Girl That You Loved Before”, another of the songs previewed with a video before release, has a real deftness of touch. Taylor understands how much feeling you can get across without piling everything on.
But you know what? I like JST best when she’s metaphorically got her middle finger up. “Never Gonna Please ’Em All” is exactly that. Defiant and entirely sure of itself, it feels like her statement of who she is in 2026. Take it or leave it. You’d be a fool to do the latter.
Love in all its forms means Rachel gets her ballad on “You And Me (Rachel’s Song)”. There’s a touch of the Stereophonics’ arena rock about this one, with a warmth and scale that suggest it could fill a very big room.
“Death Wish” closes things slowly and reflectively. It takes its time, lets the tension gather, and then explodes. The release is tremendous, a fitting finish to a record that finds so many ways to express what’s going on beneath the surface.
Joanne Shaw Taylor has been one of the finest exponents of blues guitar for years. More recently, she’s been enjoying something of a renaissance, and this continues it.
I might not understand love particularly well, but I do understand this: “The Trouble With Love” is a superb album.
Rating: 8.5/10
