Dani Wilde
Album: Juice Me Up
Label: Ruf
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.daniwilde.com

Dani Wilde is definitely fulfilling the promise of her early work. "Juice Me Up" seems to be the point at which she signs off her top quality apprenticeship and steps out the fully furnished article. There's a palpable difference in the sound of this album that announces the arrival of a more mature, more considered album.

The reason you know she's reached that point is that it's been achieved without compromise, the scintillating guitar licks and riffs, the arrangements, the vocal quality are all there, it's more about the way Dani attacks her subject material on this album.

For a start, there's far more of a soul feel. Right from the opening track, "Don't Make Me Cry" Ms Wilde appears to be more in tune with both her horn section and her spiritual side. You can feel the isolation and heartbreak in a way that wasn't quite there in her previous album "Shine".

Not that she's lost any of her vitality, there is still a real feeling of an artist that gets and real buzz out of her life, both with the guitar strapped on and without. Dani Wilde is more than happy to rip it up when the song and situation require it.

This is also the most political album that Dani Wilde has so far written to date, with a couple of explicitly political numbers, "Crazy World" and "The Burning Truth", the latter including references to London Riots, in addition to which there's some hard hitting barbs in a number of her other songs.

Dani Wilde has definitely come of age. She always produced exciting and energetic albums, both solo and in conjunction with other blues artists, "Juice Me Up" takes her one more step along the road and is well worth seeking out.

The album is dedicated to Nora, Pamela and Ahadi and all my little angels in Embu Kenya. Dani has been heavily involved in fund raising for the County Primary School in Embu, through the Moving Mountains Trust. To find out more, please visit their website, www.movingmountainstrust.com

Neil King