Artist Joan As Police Woman, aka Joan Wasser, shared her new single “Take Me To Your Leader,” featuring Dave Okumu of The Invisible and the late drummer Tony Allen. The Afrobeat pioneer died last year due to an abdominal aneurism.
The laid-back jazz song is the first of her upcoming album, The Solution is Restless, which is set to drop on November 5th. In 2020, she wrote and recorded with Gorillaz’ Damon Albarn on their song “Simplicity” of their album, Song Machine, the singer also released a cover album Covers II featuring songs by Prince, The Strokes and others. Her Prince cover was very heavily influenced by soul, and this is again the case in her new track, “Take Me To Your Leader.”
The artist herself said about the song: “This first single, ‘Take Me To Your Leader,’ is the most incendiary on the new record. I wrote it watching Jacinda Ardern, PM of New Zealand, navigate 2020. In my dream world, the US asks to meet her in order to learn how to better run the country.” She goes on to explain that this is the reason for the lines “Take me to your leader/ ‘cause I’m ready to play/ can’t hold my breath any longer/ word on the street is she’s a healer/I know I’m down to obey/ and don’t we need a break in the chaos.”
The smooth song and Wasser’s deep vocals create a great atmosphere. The theme of hoping for a better and fairer world is serious, but with a rather relaxing beat, it all seems possible.