Ruby Turner is a singer with a huge vocal range and more than 30 years in the music business. She was worked with Bryan Ferry, UB40, Steel Pulse, Jools Holland, Mick Jagger and many more. Her compositions have been covered by Lulu, Yazz and Maxi Priest and she has had chart success with numbers including “It’s Gonna Be Alright” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.”
Turner has also appeared in productions including Carmen Jones, Fame and A Street Car Named Desire and films including Love Actually and Famous Fred, as well as many TV productions. She sings gospel, soul and jazz. Her solo performances, as well as regular appearances alongside Jools Holland have gained her a huge following. Ruby Turner’s voice can breathe life and meaning into any song, whether it be a passionate ballad or a fast groove.
Her new album Love Was Here, due on Jan. 24, “is one I’ve always wanted to make,” Turner says. “The feel and grooves I’ve heard and loved: Curtis Mayfield, B.B. King, Ry Cooder, the Rev. Al Green to name but a few. The opportunity came through meeting Nick Atkinson and Kat Eaton, a dynamic, confident and determined production team. Their writing and approach was irresistible. They ignited my desire to write again, and I loved the creative process.”
Love Was Here is Ruby Turner’s 20th release, and was written and recorded with Nick and Kat over a period of 18 months, between Jools Holland tours and shows out on the road with her own band. What started out as an intended four- or five-track EP developed into a 10-song album. The bonus track is “Chasing Love” from the film The Host. It’s slated for release worldwide on Jan. 17, 2020, starring Derek Jacobi and a cast including Dougie Poynter from the pop group McFly.
“It just felt right to include it on this album,” Ruby Turner says of “Chasing Love.” “For me it’s all about writing and singing songs I really believe in. When you do that it makes you want to go that extra mile, even when it looks like you’re the only one who believes in it.”
Love Was Here opens with “It’s Got to Be Done,” an uplifting number with a strong rhythmic layout. It serves as an excellent vehicle for Ruby’s beautiful, rich voice which soars throughout the track. The band are tight, the vocals pitch perfect – making this is a perfect opener. “Don’t Cry Over Yesterday” is a lesson in not having regrets, moving on as well as the hope of strength through friendship and the support of a good friend. The soulful, clear lyrics are delivered with power and feeling, particularly in the closing phrases.
“Won’t Give You My Heart to Break” is sassy, purposeful and delivers a strong message about protecting your heart and spotting the dangers in relationships. Treading carefully is the message here, but the music offers no safety net: You are drawn in, under and immersed in the beauty of the song. “Under Your Sky” is just lovely, with John Blease’s soft, lilting rhythm and talks of the surety of knowing you are loved and cared for with lyrics including “you are watching over me and I know you are loving me.” This is a gorgeous number.
“Love Was Here” is slower, gentler and atmospheric. This is a tale of love once present, now gone but still sensed in every place: “We both know, there’s a reason why we can’t just let go,” Turner sings. “Nothing just disappears; there’s a memory to remind us that love was here. Maybe we should walk away; love was here but you sent it away.” Sung with feeling and emotion, this is food for the soul. The final phrase is solo voice and is moving in the extreme. “Make You Happy” is a celebration of the ins and outs of love, and the desire to bring joy to someone else – no matter what. There is a lovely middle section with vocals and Nick Atkinson’s guitar in response to each other over solid percussion, before a return to the choral line. A lovely number.
“Runaway” is slow, set up by Blease’s off-beat emphasized drum before the vocal entry. The song tells of the wish to run away, back to a time when things were easy and happy. The vocals soar from deep alto to high mezzo in the second half, over solid backing vocals. The track is multi-layered, and well structured. “Better Way” is about finding a way to improve things by listening, talking and seeking the better way of the title in which we do things. There is some great guitar and bass from Arkinson and Jeremy Meek, respectively, under the ever-formidable vocals of Ruby Turner.
“Why Didn’t We Try” is a slow, sultry story or love, once complete and beautiful, which was lost when both parties walked away. Now, they’re questioning how it was lost. The vocals on this track are superb, and the what ifs, maybes and possibilities of change are delivered with heartfelt emotion. The lyrics are beautiful and clearly delivered: “So much love, love we thought would never die. I gave you my heart to keep ….. why didn’t we try?” Simply beautiful.
“Time of Your Life” talks of love which hurt, was passing but meaningful to the one left behind and the wishes of the forgotten lover, and healing: “I hope you have the time of your life, ’cause you nearly put a stop to mine.” Indeed. “Chasing Love” is gentle, and opens with vocals over an eerily haunting erhu played by Wan Pun Chu and Joe Glossop’s piano. It tells the emotive story of love, while warning not to “be a fool in another man’s hand.” “Chasing Love” is an incredibly moving track and the emotion in the vocals is astounding. Everything is emphasized by the erhu’s doleful sound, the hummed lines and the lyrical passages delivering a warning of chasing, losing and dying for love. This track is a highlight and the listener is drawn in by the power, the beauty of the lyrics and the sheer strength of the vocals.
Ruby Turner shines everywhere on Love Was Here. Her voice has the ability to lift, charge emotionally and occasionally drop the listener into a void, longing for more. On some tracks, there are changes in both volume and texture which only add to the emotion of the song and the interpretation of the lyrics is simply sublime.
- James McGowan Ensemble – ‘Reaching Out’ (2024) - December 18, 2024
- Joan Torres’s All Is Fused – ‘Embrace Form’ (2024) - July 14, 2024
- Julian Costello – ‘Vertigo’ (2024) - June 29, 2024
