Joan as Police Woman

Behind the stage name Joan as Police Woman is American musician and songwriter Joan Wasser, born in Maine and long based in New York. Trained in classical violin and coming from the indie rock scene with The Dambuilders as well as various New York projects, Joan as Police Woman developed from the mid-2000s a solo approach that blends soul, indie pop, touches of jazz and intimate songwriting. The debut album “Real Life” (2006) established a world of warm vocals, spare arrangements and often melancholic melodies, followed by “To Survive” (2008) and “The Deep Field” (2011), which broadened the palette toward a more expansive soul. With “The Classic” (2014) and “Damned Devotion” (2018) she refined a style oscillating between slow ballads, hushed R&B grooves and more direct songs, while “Cover Two” (2020) revisited other artists’ material in a minimalist aesthetic. The collaborative album “The Solution Is Restless” (2021), recorded with Tony Allen and Dave Okumu, further grounds Joan as Police Woman in a dialogue between groove, improvisation and pop songwriting, continuing a career marked by numerous appearances alongside musicians from the indie, soul and experimental scenes.