SLG


		Echoes from the '70s Joan Armatrading returns with a new album after taking time off to relax, finish college and pen a song for Nelson Mandela. By KARISSA S. WANG Special to the Register It's been eight years since Joan Armatrading's last album and fans who enjoyed her earlier work will notice that the new CD "Lovers Speak" harkens to the folky, acoustic sound of her music in the '70s. "It does remind people of the earlier things, which is nice," Armatrading said by phone from her Surrey, England, home on the day the album was released in that country. The album will be available here Tuesday. After she finished the tour for 1995's "What's Inside," Armatrading said she needed a break. "I was just really, really tired and I needed to sit down for a bit," she said. She resumed touring, first with a seven-piece band, then again with four musicians and finally with just two. "That was great, it was totally and completely relaxing," she said of touring with a small group. "I could enjoy just being on tour, I didn't feel the responsibility for people, I didn't take all the trucks you need to take. I enjoy being on stage anyway, but it just felt even nicer and the audience enjoyed it." In addition to touring in the past eight years, Armatrading managed to make time to complete her college degree. She graduated from Open University, which is based in the United Kingdom and allows students to take courses from home. It took her five years to reach the goal she'd had since childhood and in 2001 she graduated with honors, getting her bachelor's degree in history. "I didn't manage to get to many lectures or summer school, I managed to spend one week at York University," Armatrading said. "The rest of it was trying to get essays in from all parts of the world." Armatrading said at the time of her graduation ceremony, she received more than a diploma. She was named a "Member of the British Empire" from the royal family, a title the Beatles received in 1965. "It's a big honor to get," Armatrading said. "The morning after my graduation ceremony I got the MBE at the palace. I was given the MBE from Prince Charles, which is what I wanted, so I was very happy that day." Armatrading supports the Prince's Trust, a charity that helps disadvantaged children pursue careers and gives them mentors. Another honor came when Armatrading was asked by the British government to compose a special tribute song for Nelson Mandela, which she performed when he visited the United Kingdom in 2000. "I was asked to write it and I didn't say yes right away," Armatrading said. "I felt pressure for that, it was quite a big deal and I wanted it to be a little bit of a synopsis of the man and all he went through. So I took ages to write it." At one point during that writing process, she awakened at 3 a.m. when the music came to her. She got to her piano and in about an hour wrote the song that became "The Messenger" (the song may be downloaded from her Web site, www.joanarmatrading.com). Since she's always somewhere in the process of making music, Armatrading does not buy much music and prefers to listen to talk radio when she is in her car. "If you saw my record collection, it's very small," Armatrading said. "It's nice to have all sorts of different types of music. I don't own an Eminem album, but I think Eminem is really good. If I was asked who I like now, I would say Eminem and Pink. That's hearing them if something's on the television and I happen to be hearing them." Armatrading's new CD offers neither the pop sound of Pink nor the rap vibe of Eminem. Instead listeners get vintage Armatrading, at a time musically when retro is in and her light, yet thoughtful album proves a respite in a time of upheaval. The CD's title track is an interesting observation of people who are in love. "I've always been absolutely fascinated about people in love and how they talk to each other," Armatrading said. "When they talk it always looks mysterious and important and you say, 'What are these people talking about?' It's like a language. When you look at people in love, they're whispering with each other and cozying with each other and it's intense. But the thing they look like they're saying is that it's only a language meant for them." The reflective song "In These Times" is befitting recent events, although Armatrading wrote it back in 2000 and the song was meant to continue thoughts from her song "If Women Ruled the World" on the 1992 album "Square the Circle." "When people heard that song, they thought it was about Sept. 11. I wrote it well before September the 11th," Armatrading said. "But it's the sort of song that fits desperate times and it can apply to something as drastic as that or something that requires you to pray to God in your ordinary life. "This is talking about when you're going to war, whoever your God is, you're praying to that God about all sorts of things. People who have to watch their loved ones go, it's not a pleasant thing and you would ask that God to watch over them and watch you. You're constantly reminded of war." Yet this song sounds somewhat like a love song, with lyrics such as: "In these times, everyone needs love. In these times, do you pray to God? In these times, everyone needs comfort and would welcome a hand to hold." On this album, Armatrading plays guitar, mandolin, bass, keyboards, strings - everything except for the horn and drum parts. It is a first for Armatrading, who released her first album "Whatever's For Us" back in 1973 and recently made VH-1's list of "The Most Influential Women in Rock." "On all of my demos I play all the instruments including drums, but I've never done it on an album, and I knew at some point I'd do it on an album," Armatrading said. "This was just the right album. This is a very lively album. I was probably relaxed, there was no pressure." After she finished the album the engineer made note of her playing so many instruments herself. "The engineer said to me, 'That was really brave,' and I thought, 'Why?' I forgot, because I'm used to it. I always know what I want on the records, I play the instruments on the demos so I don't have to explain it to someone." The last cut on the CD, "Blessed," is the shortest, at 1 minute, 49 seconds. But that song sums up her take on life now, she said. "That's about me, that's how I feel. I feel very blessed." In the song she sings, "If you can feel the sun, if you can feel the rain, life can't be bad / If you've got food to eat and all your dreams to dream, life can't be bad / If you can walk away and fight another day, life can't be that bad / For all the things that I can do, how could I complain / I've got no broken wings, I've got a heart that sings and I feel blessed."

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