Freewheelin’ Woman due Apr 15th
Jewel announces Freewheelin’ Woman, her first new studio album in seven years due out on April 15th via her own Words Matter Music. The new album presents Jewel’s boldest and most unbridled body of work to date, revealing entirely new dimensions of her breathtaking voice. The Alaskan native also shared her brand new single “Dancing Slow,” featuring Train, who she’ll join on their recently announced North American Summer 2022 tour. Kicking off June 8th in Mansfield, MA, the tour makes 35+ stops including New York, Nashville, Dallas, San Diego, and more before concluding on August 6th at the legendary Red Rocks venue in Colorado, Jewel’s home state.
“‘Dancing Slow’ is ultimately about the ebb and flow of life, and cherishing those moments of certainty that are shared when you’re with a trusted companion,” Jewel says of the new single. “It feels like time slows down for a moment. I’m so glad Train was able to join me on this track, with Pat Monahan’s sweet vocals adding another layer to the melody.”
The follow-up to Jewel’s self-produced and critically praised 2015 album Picking Up the Pieces, Freewheelin’ Woman finds Jewel working with producer Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Gavin DeGraw, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness), dreaming up a soulful and groove-heavy sound partly inspired by the classic R&B records made at Muscle Shoals.
“I cut my teeth on singers like Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan and got into those Muscle Shoals records a little later on, and for some reason that’s where my voice and my writing wanted to go on this album,” says Jewel, who recorded the album live with a full band. Along with lending the album a gritty vitality, that approach helped to capture the unfettered vocal work she’s increasingly brought to her live show in recent years. On “Dance Sing Laugh Love” — the album’s uplifting and luminous centerpiece — Jewel’s vocals hit a particularly thrilling intensity as she shares her insight on living in resistance to cynicism.
“No More Tears” featuring Darius Rucker set the standard for the album’s illuminating quality. In its soul-stirring homage to those who’ve endured hardship of all kinds, the song unfolds in warm gospel harmonies and smoldering piano melodies, taking on an exquisite power as Jewel and Rucker’s vocals merge at the bridge.
Elsewhere on Freewheelin’ Woman, Jewel embodies an irresistibly elated mood. A wildly catchy pop confection, “Alibis” revels in the radiant clarity that comes from conquering heartache, her voice telegraphing a carefree self-possession at the track’s sing-along-ready chorus.
A passionate mental-health advocate who struggled through a period of homelessness as a teenager, Jewel has been working alongside her Foundation, the Inspiring Children Foundation, for nearly two decades to provide mentorship and mental-health resources for at-risk youth. During the pandemic, Jewel expanded her outreach to help those in need build community and connection and, in turn, protect against the silent symptoms of COVID-19: anxiety, depression, and isolation.
Jewel has also partnered with SaksWorks to bring mental health to the workplace. Together with her Foundation, she is creating a curriculum for wellness to create a better work environment.
CD
1. Long Way Round (Woohoo)
2. Dancing Slow feat. Train
3. Alibis
4. Grateful
5. Half Life
6. Almost
7. Dance Sing Laugh Love
8. Living With Your Memory
9. No More Tears feat. Darius Rucker
10. When You Loved Me
11. Love Wins
12. Nothing But Love
