I first heard this in 2007 whilst driving on Oxford's Eastern bypass between the Heyford Hill and Abingdon Road roundabouts. Johnnie Walker was playing it on the radio, I had heard her name mentioned a few times before but never had knowingly heard anything. This track certainly made me sit up, making that mental note to find out more.
Some five or so months later we managed to see her for the first time at the Empire, Shepherds Bush. She played Essence then and every other time we have seen her perform (but not when I bumped into her in LA)
The voice has changed somewhat, that can be heard even between the original recording in 2001 to the live performance in 2005 but the song is just as strong as ever.
The track in on the eponymously titled Essence and there are so many other strong songs on it, including, Blue, Out of Touch (great version on the live album), Are You Down, Reason to Cry and Bus to Baton Rouge.
Essence comes in a very rich vein of albums from Sweet Old World, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Essence, World Without Tears, and West. Just dont forget the various ones either side.
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