Joan Osborne is back with Nobody Owns You, out today on Womanly Hips Records and produced by Ben Rice (Valerie June, Norah Jones). While the Grammy-nominated singer’s highly praised 2020 release Trouble and Strife took a frank and honest look at our socio-political landscape, Nobody Owns You finds Osborne in a very personal place, contemplating life’s major questions. The introspective collection highlights Osborne’s songwriting prowess, and offers inspiration, optimism and hope, surrounded by a rootsy and deeply soulful sound.
As the writer and co-writer on all twelve new songs, Osborne shares her profound personal beliefs but still has much to say regarding the current climate in the US. The first offering off the album is “Great American Cities,” a rebuttal of right wing TV pundits disparaging America’s urban centers.
Osborne shares, “I go to these cities all the time, and while they have issues like anywhere, they are full of life and energy and creativity and joy. This song came from my desire to celebrate America’s big cities and challenge the disinformation that’s being put out about them.” Listen to Nobody Owns You HERE.
Nobody Owns You opens with the reflective “I Should’ve Danced More,” an honest look back on the past and what is ahead in life. The powerful title track “Nobody Owns You” is a feminist message meant for Osborne’s daughter, to applaud and encourage embracing her autonomy. “Women’s Work” is a missive to all working moms, as Osborne vocalizes the stark reality that “a woman’s work is never done.” That complicated truth is further illuminated in “So Many Airports” as she recounts the endless nights on the road, away from home. And never one to shy away from current issues, Osborne laments the epidemic of mass shootings in the troubling “Time of the Gun.”
Joining Osborne on the album is Rice, who adds banjo guitar, along with Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel, Dave Sherman on piano, and Jack Petruzelli on baritone guitar. Backing vocalists Rachel Yamagata and Catherine Russell add tone and texture as they contribute harmonies throughout much of the album. Jill Sobule adds another layer of sound on the upbeat “Child of God” and the hymnlike “Lifeline.”
Nobody Owns You follows Osborne’s acclaimed Trouble & Strife, which earned raves from NPR, People, Associated Press and more. In 2022, Osborne released Radio Waves, an anthology of select performances broadcast on national airwaves since 1995.