Rita Wilson

Rita Wilson finds her voice on latest album Sound of a Woman.

With her sixth studio album, multitasker extraordinaire Rita Wilson admits hitting her stride. Speaking to the UK’s This Morning, the actress turned crooner explained:

“I feel like only just now I’m really starting to find my voice literally and metaphorically because I think there’s so many identities that we come into this world with as women.”

Although she started back in 2012 with cover album AM/FM, you would be forgiven for knowing her name via the silver screen. Wilson starred in classics Sleepless in Seattle and Runaway Bride.
Evidently not one to rest on her laurels, the 69-year-old has built a steady second life via four chords and the truth.
The artist may have begun this journey relatively late in life but Sound of a Woman is evidence that this turn is no mere side project.

Sound of a Woman effectively offers exactly what it says on the tin. Leading off with the opening title track to the book end ‘No Matter What’, the 11 tracks explore womanhood through a female-centred lens, touching on the many roles and experiences women navigate. From rebellious teen to marriage, motherhood, and everything in between.

Tracks mostly feel like warm and knowing tributes to various aspects of womanhood, rather than a sermon or lament.
Two excellent testaments to the celebratory vibe are ‘Your Mother’ and ‘Marriage’.
The former serves as a gentle reminder to the next generation that the parent before them is formed from a life of experiences, joys, fears and dare it be said mistakes. What’s more, enjoy her while you have her, and heed her lessons well.

‘Marriage’ brings out a simple sentiment with charm and good humour. Wilson sings with a wry chuckle:
“One minute you’re in love with him, the next you wish he’d die.”
This song playfully teases the naïve romance of marriage against the pains and perseverance of partnership, without making it sound like a funeral march.
On top of that, it nods to the tension of being wedded together for better or worse but still clambering for one’s own sense of individuality.

Wilson speaks plain as she opines:
“You’re 40 years old trying to find a voice of your own, wonder if the best years of your life are behind you. Here you are mother and wife, scared to say you need more of a life, you can’t ignore the voice inside you.”
The singer’s voice is filled with joy with a tinge of knowing sympathy. The guitar and piano led ditty is not a rebuke to tying the knot, but instead a nod towards the strength it takes to come through the hard times as a couple and as an individual.

She may have started out in Hollywood, but half a dozen albums in the musician acquits herself well in the writers room.

A writing standout on the record, ‘Whose Body Is This?’, successfully brings together a salute to all the pain and strain that a female body has to face, and the battering it can withstand to get a person through the hard times. This is not a tale of doom and gloom though, as the song serves as a celebration of the body’s effort to bring about life. Wilson sings of her pregnancy: “I did something I never thought I could, who knew pain could ever feel that good.”

Later reflections shift to the burden of image and self acceptance. The Los Angeles native shares: “I may not know who’s looking back at me, but I know I will get used to it.”

Notably, ‘Better for Her’ tries to break the album’s mould but ends up sticking out somewhat. On its own, the track is a solid tale of woe from a jilted ex who watches her former husband become the perfect man for someone else. Wilson plays the role well, but the song feels like a clear departure from the rest of the album’s mood. While the rest of the record makes a real effort to find the positives even in difficult moments, ‘Better for Her’ seems to turn its nose up at that glass-half-full energy.

Unfortunately, ‘Diamonds’, meanwhile, tries a little too hard to be chipper. It finds itself on the lukewarm side of cheesy. It looks to find the good even in the darkest hour but with lines like “Out of all the dirt and rubble let’s go and make ourselves good trouble”, it’s the work’s weakest moment. Admittedly though, the supporting gospel choir put in maximum effort to make it a melodic smorgasbord.

Overall, Sound of a Woman succeeds in exploring through a female-centred lens. The listener hears an unashamedly bright perspective while still acknowledging the tougher moments.