He no doubt achieved this but I’m wondering how his fan base will react to the album. ‘I just wanted to make something that was fun,” Walker says. Lazzarus’ Goodbye Horses is less impressive, but his take on Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody is arguably an improvement on the overproduced original. Equally impressive is his bluegrass-themed adaptation of Beyoncé’s Halo. Sia’s Cheap Thrills is a point in case where he reinvents the pop song into a countrified and upbeat arrangement. The renditions work best when Walker restructures the original songs. Walker is in fine voice throughout but with some of the choices, mainly pop songs, remaining faithful to the originals ( Linger, Nothing Compares To You, Coz I Love You), the results are somewhat uninspiring. Instead, he tackles songs performed by The Cranberries, Sinead O’Connor, Cher, Q Lazarus, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and others. Given his honky tonk credentials you might expect that he’d tackle some of the classic country recordings from the likes of Dolly, Loretta, or Patsy, but in reality, his selections couldn’t be further away from those artists.
Digging deeply into his memory bank, he chose eleven of his favourite songs recorded by female artists, many of which he kept true to the original versions and others he rearranged. Those first three albums featured a host of unfortunate characters, some probably autobiographical, who frequented the type of honky tonks that Walker regularly played in, but he has taken an entirely different path with this recording. Since then, he has recorded two more albums, returned to his busy touring schedule after the easing of Covid-related restrictions, and has tailed off those hectic four years with his latest and fourth full album, WHAT IS IT EVEN? Texan Joshua Ray Walker has been busy since the release of his debut album, WISH YOU WERE HERE in 2019. Joshua Ray Walker What Is It Even? Soundly
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