When I think "Joy Williams" I think back to her "Best of Joy Williams" CD from 2006 with my two favorites - "Every Moment" and "I Believe in You" or even older, her 2005 CD, "Genesis" with my favorites, "I'm in Love With You" and "Say Goodbye". Back then at 17, Joy Elizabeth Williams signed with Reunion Records as a Christian contemporary singer. Joy Williams is most notably known, however, for being one-half of the folk/rock band, the Civil Wars. In fact, before The Civil Wars broke up, the duo won four Grammy awards.
Joy Williams released three Christian LPs, along with seven EPs and a greatest hits collection, between 2001 and 2010. The transition from Christian solo artist to Grammy-winning folk duo back to solo artist has opened the floodgates of creative inspiration for the now-32-year-old singer. Williams' new CD, Venus, is what Williams describes as her "coming-of-age album" - it's a perfect description for an album full of truthful lyrics, universal emotions, and an overall feeling of self-acceptance.
Williams told USA Today, "I wanted to take the best parts of what I learned from being in the Civil Wars and bring it into a new space where I could infuse more of my influences. I got to blend in Kate Bush, Portishead, Massive Attack and Peter Gabriel. I've brought my story with me, not tried to reject it."
Williams had gone through several emotional hurdles and plenty of career and life changes over the past few years, including the ending of Civil Wars, the death of her father to cancer and the birth of her son. "There's something about the last few years that I've been through that have totally broken me in a lot of ways," she says. "But you can choose to break down or you can choose to break open, and I'm really, really proud of the fact that the breaking open has been happening for me. We all have that choice, and we all make that in our own ways, less gracefully and definitely not perfectly." She added that all the struggles she's been dealt has been worth the fight. "I've found an inner strength in myself that I never knew I had and I have a new chapter in my life that you guys are a part of and that matters to me." Williams believes that this album is her "break through" album rather than her "break up" album! YOU GO GIRL!!
The lead single "Woman (Oh Mama)" was unveiled earlier this year in April, while Venus' most recent preview is called "Until the Levee." You can hear the ghostly whirl of pre-programmed drums, ethereal synths and Williams' powerful vocal melodies below. The album includes the following tracks:
1. Before I Sleep
2. Sweet Love of Mine
3. Woman (Oh Mama)
4. One Day I Will
5. Not Good Enough
6. What a Good Woman Does
7. Until the Levee
8. You Loved Me
9. The Dying Kind
10. Till Forever
11. Welcome Home
You can pick up this CD at iTunes====>HERE, or on Amazon====>HERE. You can check out Joy Williams' official website, or catch her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube too!
I participated in the Joy WIlliams Venus album review program as a member of One2One Network. I was provided an album to review but all opinions are my own.Please make sure to visit my homepage and subscribe to my blog for more great posts on running, fitness and lifestyle topics as well as food, product, music and book reviews, and more!
