A badass woman by definition is a woman who is confident and willing to break barriers by showing up as her best self and encouraging other women to do the same. To me, Alison Mosshart is the perfect example of a badass woman with her devil may care attitude and her signature cigarette in hand.
Alison Mosshart is best known for her sultry, raspy vocals for The Kills and The Dead Weather, and has taken on another artistic endeavor with a spoken word album titled, Sound Wheel, along with a printed collection of paintings, photographs, short stories and poetry titled, CAR MA, her first book.
CAR MA’s first limited edition print run, sold via an art gallery in Los Angeles and sold out in one day upon release in May 2019. Alison wrote the book last year, compiling dozens of photographs, paintings, and drawings into a thematic riff on her love of cars and a life spent on the road. She has spent decades in rock bands and for the past decade built a name for herself in the world in visual arts, with multiple gallery shows of her paintings on both sides of the Atlantic.
Sound Wheel is an album about the best things in life – cars, rock n’ roll, and love. It’s the story of the love affair that exists between musicians and life on the road. As Sound Wheel begins, you get the sense of grit behind a romantic backdrop of city tales of darkness and light intertwined along with Alison’s voice. Listening to the tracks, it’s difficult not to smirk as there’s a distinct feeling where I relate to Sound Wheel – reminiscing the various amounts of concerts I’ve attended in my life and patiently awaiting to attend more.
It’s strange to think of how influential she has been throughout my life, from long commutes to work to heartbreaks; her words have taken a part in my life somehow. Hearing her voice breathe life into these tracks is quite stunningly melancholic in such a beautiful way that makes you want to research everything about the Beat Generation. Oh, believe me, you will.
“The distance – the distance that I went for you wasn’t out of charity.”
- poetic lines like this hit deep and hit home. The truth behind her lines is so incredibly relatable, hearing “L.A. Mix” resonated with my relationship to NYC – it’s a complicated, beautiful relationship. In every track, you can’t pinpoint but there’s a hint of mystery and something quite romantic – that’s alluring to finish the whole album.
Sound Wheel / CAR MA will have you falling in love all over again with Alison – it’s truly a beautiful piece of art. In CAR MA, there’s an exploration of minimalism that makes you look twice at the picture in which her art creates a bewildering hypnotic effect. Mosshart also released two songs/videos – “Rise” and “It Ain’t Water” which are both directed, produced, and edited by Alison.
At this point, it’s kind of like what can’t Alison Mosshart do.
To see this amount of talent is pretty inspiring especially with everything that’s going on in the world today – it’s nice to break away with art, spoken word, and beautiful photography. The Special Edition bundle includes both hardcover, signed, limited edition of the CAR MA book, and limited edition vinyl of the Sound Wheel LP, available direct from Third Man Records only.
