Britta Lee Shain
What The Heart Wants

At some point in their careers, most songwriter-singers create one album that defines them. An album that does everything that they are and want to be. A statement replete with all facets of this art. This is Britta’s definitive statement. It’s a beautiful and hopeful album of survival and redemption, of cleansing decades of blood on the tracks and elsewhere to touch the light. She’s both famous and infamous for her time with Bob Dylan, and her recent beautifully poetic book about him, Seeing The Real You At Last. It’s a beautifully written book, both poetic and historic, but has overshadowed the fact that she’s also a gifted and serious singer-songwriter. For those who want to know the real Britta, however, this is a perfect place to look. This is Britta now, writing earthy songs that resound with the beautiful simplicity of a Leonard Cohen lyric, such as “What The Heart Wants.” “Across the Blue Divide” is a mysterious western of foreboding that evokes Dylan during his darkest times, a song of sorrow and hope intermingled, aiming towards hopeful light.  There is even the one song she co-wrote with Dylan, “You Can Blow My Mind (If You Want To),” a funny blues that reflects on the dynamic of secret love made public. She also brings us her version of one of his simplest and sweetest love songs, “Make You Feel My Love.” It’s beautifully produced by Ed Tree, who plays most guitars here and bass, with Marty Axelrod on keys, Gary Ferguson on drums, Gabe Witcher on fiddle, and Debra Dobkin on percussion. The production is perfect for these songs; it feels like we are transported back to an analog world, where everything was still going slowly, and every word, even the hushed ones, can be heard. William Valenti’s funny and brilliant “Boomer’s Bones” closes the show with a dark and funny view of the resolute perseverance of those who have fought the good fights through these decades. Britta’s also been fighting the good fight for years, and here’s hoping those fights are over now, and that, together, we can all cross that blue divide into a place of peace.

https://americansongwriter.com/seeing-the-real-you-at-last/

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