Vanja Sky - Woman Named Trouble (2020) [Hi-Res]

Enough manufactured pop princesses. Vanja Sky is the real deal: a fire-voiced blues-rock gunslinger, armed with a troublemaking new album of modern classics. You've already seen the Croatian-born bandleader blow up Ruf's 2018 Blues Caravan with songs from that year's acclaimed Bad Penny album. Now, Sky returns with a hard-rocking second release that dares you to be her partner-in-crime. "If you asked people close to me," she says, with a mischievous grin, "they'd say Woman Named Trouble is describing me." Building on the momentum, Woman Named Trouble debuts eight original songs penned by Sky with guitarist Robert Wendt, plus three classic covers and a fistful of attitude. For heavy riffage, try opener Rock 'N' Rolla Train, complete with a bee-in-a-bottle lick worthy of Angus Young's playbook, and Turn It On, whose vicious intro breaks into a seductive vocal. But Sky and Wendt's songcraft goes far beyond blues-rock. Myriad genres are explored here, from the gorgeous Stonesy country-blues chime of Hard Times, to What's Going On's leap into trilling folk, and the mesmerising bass-led funk of Troublemaker. Elsewhere, there's the stormy Voodoo Mama and the heartache of Call Me If You Need Me, while the rockabilly rave-up of Let's Go Wild will make you do precisely that. Still just 26, Vanja Sky's early career has been just as wild. From dive bars and dead-ends to headline tours and supports with the mighty UFO, the highlights since 2017 would make that young Croatian gunslinger pinch herself. Now, Woman Named Trouble leaves no doubt there's plenty more trouble to come. "Besides being tons of fun to make," she reflects, "I think we did a great job with the music. I'm very proud of this album"