Joanne Shaw Taylor Finds Strength in Vulnerability on The Trouble With Love
There is a difference between writing songs about heartbreak and understanding what heartbreak can reveal. On her new album, The Trouble With Love, British blues-rock guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor seems particularly interested in the latter. Across 10 tracks, she examines the complications of relationships, the difficult process of accepting people as they are, and the freedom that comes from recognizing when something has run its course.
Released October 23 via Joe Bonamassa's Journeyman Records, The Trouble With Love is produced by longtime collaborator Kevin Shirley. It draws from blues, rock, soul, and Americana, but its strongest unifying element is Taylor's increasingly personal approach to songwriting. The guitar playing that established her reputation remains important, although the stories provide the album with much of its direction.
The title track, featuring Joe Bonamassa, establishes the record's central tension. Love can be exhilarating and deeply frustrating, sometimes within the same relationship. Rather than presenting romance as an uncomplicated source of happiness, Taylor considers its addictive qualities and the decisions people make when emotion overrides better judgment.
That perspective becomes especially interesting on "Tired Of Being Right," which addresses the exhausting realization that someone close may never change. The song's premise is familiar, but it reflects a particularly difficult kind of heartbreak: the moment when understanding a relationship's problems no longer makes those problems easier to live with.
Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen
"What Good Is My Love?" features fellow guitarist Orianthi and approaches unrequited affection from another direction. Its central question concerns the value of devotion when the person receiving it cannot offer the same feelings in return. The collaboration adds another notable musical partnership to an album that consistently places emotional conflict ahead of easy resolution.
Taylor also looks beyond romantic relationships. "You And Me (Rachel's Song)," written for her best friend, is one of the album's most meaningful departures. By celebrating friendship and the comfort of a lasting personal connection, it provides a welcome counterweight to the record's more troubled accounts of love.
Elsewhere, "The Girl That You Loved Before" considers how people change after relationships end. The idea of being remembered as someone who no longer exists gives the song an intriguing perspective on nostalgia. "Bad Boy," meanwhile, explores attraction that remains difficult to resist despite its destructive potential.
The album's more assertive moments are equally important. "Hell Or High Water" draws on blues-gospel traditions to explore perseverance, while "Never Gonna Please 'Em All" rejects the exhausting pursuit of universal approval. The latter's declaration of independence feels particularly appropriate within a record concerned with the cost of compromising personal identity.
Taylor's interpretation of Celeste's "This Is Who I Am" reinforces that theme of acceptance. Its inclusion alongside original material helps connect the album's different emotional perspectives, from romantic disappointment to a more settled understanding of personal worth.
After nearly two decades of recording, Taylor has developed the experience to approach these subjects without forcing tidy conclusions. The Trouble With Love succeeds as a collection because it allows contradictory feelings to coexist. Love can be sustaining, damaging, confusing, and worthwhile, and Taylor gives each possibility room to breathe.
The Trouble With Love is available to stream and purchase. Taylor begins her fall U.S. tour October 28 in Albuquerque, with dates continuing through November 21 in Monterey. Full details are available through her official tour page.
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