Amid the multiple conflicts and confusions of contemporary life – particularly in the wake of the US election – we can turn to one of our most enduring songwriters to make sense of this weird headspace. Joan Armatrading’s new album How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean seems to sum up the question rattling around all of our heads so much of the time, and as she releases it on 22 November, she’ll be joining us to answer your questions about it and anything else in her career.
Raised in the Caribbean then England, Armatrading released the first of 20 studio albums back in 1972. Blessed with a voice whose purity meant she could bend it to delicate folk-pop, strutting rock, jazz balladry and other styles besides, she became a constant presence in the charts in the late 70s and 80s, beginning with her self-titled breakthrough album and its hit single Love and Affection.
Now 73, she has maintained a steady stream of releases ever since, and 2021’s Consequences took her back to the Top 10 for the first time since 1983. But she has broken away from the pop album format with some eye-catching projects such as her music for Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female 2016 production of The Tempest, and in 2022, her first classical composition, Symphony No 1.
She follows that with her 21st album, How Did This Happen, whose title is a phrase “you can apply to just about anything”, she says. “How did this happen and what does it now mean? We are in such a weird place at the moment, and you do think, how did this happen?” It’s full of observational storytelling, with the lead single I’m Not Moving inspired by an aggressive public confrontation she watched unfold; other songs detail love’s adulation, friction and everything in between.
Post your questions for Armatrading by 10am GMT on Wednesday 20 November, and we’ll publish her answers in the Film & Music section on Friday 22 November, as well as online.
