Grammy-nominated powerhouse singer-songwriter Beth Hart has announced her new studio album, You Still Got Me, which will be released on 25 October via Provogue / Mascot Label Group. The album features appearances by Eric Gales and Guns ‘n Roses’ Slash. She has also revealed her new song, “Wonderful World.”
Produced by the legendary Kevin Shirley and recorded in the musical heart of Nashville, TN, the song is a piano-led window into Hart. The enchanting vocals spiral around a gorgeous string arrangement that wouldn’t sound out of place front and centre in a Martin Scorsese movie.
If you have ever seen Beth Hart live or immersed yourself in her music, you know she puts every ounce of her being into her songs. Firebrands inspire; it’s what attracts people to them. However, part of those personalities’ makeup is that they do not wear a harness. They thrive on the freedom and space around them. But, with that comes danger; you need an emotional crash mat, and those save lives. It is something we all need at times throughout our lives.
The song opens with Beth’s tearful lamenting, “He asked me if I need a hug, I said I got nothin inside left to love, and then he said, But baby ya still got, baby you still got me,” before the chorus which swirls up to the heavens as she yearns, “There’ll be sweet dreams waiting to come true If you let me in if you ask me to, Sweet songs that will live on and on, If you let me in, if you ask me to, I will love you strong, but if you can’t get free… You still got me.”
The album’s video for the title track “You Still Got Me,” poignantly features her beloved husband, Scott. Scott, along with the team around her, provide that surface to fall on when she needs it. Night after night on tour you can see the adulation she receives and that she also gives back. That connection has been forged over the last 28 years of releasing music in which she unapologetically wears her heart on her sleeve – like a warrior. Which is precisely what she is.
Hart has revealed the beautiful piano ballad “Wonderful World,” which oozes optimism. “That song was written for and about my beautiful niece,” she says. “As time has gone by, I see that it’s really written for the lineage of the women in my family. All the way down the line; my great grandma, my grandma, my mom, my sisters, my niece and her daughter. So it’s the lineage and how imperative it is for me to see that, and what a gift to finally see that.”
Beth says about her writing process, “It’s always for the joy of writing or for the challenge of writing, to seek what’s going on. Sometimes, when I’m sad or scared, I check in on the piano. Sometimes a song comes, and sometimes one doesn’t. Either way, there’s comfort there.”
The album erupts with soaring rocker ‘Savior With A Razor’ featuring Guns n’ Roses’ Slash. The epic Bond-like anthem thunders with nihilistic defiance as Beth’s vocals take the listener through the shadows and smash through the ceiling as Slash’s guitar wraps around the story in an electric fashion. “Beth Hart is one of my favorite artists to work with,” Slash says. “She is an incredible singer/lyricist on so many levels. But Beth is also as sincere and genuine a friend as they come. She’s amazing.”
Beth explains the messaging within the songs: “I leave that up to the listener to decide. Personally, I know what it is for right now. One of the beautiful things I love about songs and albums is that over time, that meaning changes. I like to keep that open because there’s a lot I can learn from it.”
“Little Heartbreak Girl” pierces through the clouds like spears of hope and power. “Little Heartbreak Girl, you’re on your own,” she yearns but follows with “Little heartbreak girl, stronger than stone”. Still, it’s the lyric “You’re gonna conquer the world” scattered throughout that stands atop the mountain, planting a flag into the ground.
The video features footage of Hart interacting with her fans, a connection that is felt deeply in both directions, along with personal footage of Beth and her beloved husband, Scott.
The decadent groove-laden funk of “Suga N My Bowl” features the Southpaw wizard and longtime friend Eric Gales. She offers up a cautionary tale on “Never Underestimate a Gal,” while the Tom’s Waits-esque “Drunk on Valentine” is a tender, Jazzy, smokey barroom ballad. Her “most personal and powerful song on the album” is the haunting socio-political opus “Don’t Call The Police,” an incredibly raw, upsetting, and observational insight on the George Floyd murder.
You Still Got Me is Hart’s eleventh studio album, and it finds her riding a career trajectory that has been heading for the stars for several years and keeps soaring. Her most recent albums, A Tribute To Led Zeppelin (2022) and War In My Mind (2019), became her highest charting UK and US releases to date, along with crashing into the Top 10 in Germany, France. Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Austria, and The Netherlands. Selling out shows worldwide, her recent travels have taken her across the US, Canada, Europe, and all the way to India, Morocco, and Australia.
We all have our “Me” when she sings “You still got me” – a loved one, a friend, a pet, a place, a memory, a song…even in her moments of fragility, Beth Hart continues to inspire. She buries her hand deep and tears her emotions open so we can all see a mirror into ourselves, reminding us that you can feel low, but your inner strength is so much more powerful.
TRACKS
1. Savior With A Razor (feat. Slash)
2. Suga N My Bowl (feat. Eric Gales)
3. Never Underestimate A Gal
4. Drunk On Valentine
5. Wanna Be Big Bad Johnny Cash
6. Wonderful World
7. Little Heartbreak Girl
8. Don’t Call The Police
9. You Still Got Me
10. Pimp Like That
11. Machine Gun Vibrato
