A long time ago on the night of the full moon Joana went to the forest and came across the wolf who was howling. She came closer to the wolf and said hey wolf can you teach me to sing that nice hooooowl. And the wolf said yes and asked her to open her pretty mouth, which she did and the wolf jumped in as if into a deep well. Since then, the girl wanders around with the wolf inside her and each time the moon is full she lets out a wild hoooowl.
And so 3 Years ago Joana came to London to seek out musicians- other boys and girls who had also swallowed a wolf. After performing a series of solo gigs, she advertised in newspapers, NME and so on but had soon spent all her money with nothing to show for it...finally, after resorting to free ads in Loot she was beginning to despair of ever meeting any other wolf children...when one day in January 2005 Ali Wolf saw her Loot advert listing Kate Bush and Bjork as influences... and soon Joana had found her guitarist.
Joana and Ali spent 5 months in hibernation honing their sound and gaining a clear understanding of what kind of band they wanted. In the summer of 2005 they added Louis Wolf (drums) and Katie Wolf (bass) and so in September 2005 Joana And The Wolf performed their first gig. In their live performances, the dark, stripped-down harmonic and rhythmic power of the band provides the perfect platform for Joana's sensational expressive voice and her raw, naked energy.
Having played storming sets at this year's Great Escape festival in Brighton and having shattered chandeliers throughout London's premier venues with Joana's explosive voice, Joana And The Wolf have captured the hearts of many a fan whilst still managing to scare the hell out of a few cowardly souls.
Jim Abbiss (Artic Monkeys, Editors producer) recorded Joana And The Wolf's debut single at The Chapel studios for Regal. Having witnessed first hand the band attack the senses of a packed Water Rats crowd, Jim and the band decided to record set opener 'Purple Nights', backed by the infectious 'November'. The result is a punk/pop triumph for your ears to feast upon. The small matter that Joana was personally asked by Serge Pizzorno to lend her voice on Kasabian's new single 'Empire', and having already bagged a live session on John Kennedy's Xfm show and a slot at this years prestigious 'Bestival', 2006 is quickly but never quietly shaping up to be the year of the Wolf.
thebirder.net
Joana & The Wolf’s debut single is the quintessence of what summer night music should be. Sultry, insistent bass rhythms pulsate through the track like the promise of slow, sweaty sex, and Joana’s vocals are primal and raw. At the chorus, the moans turn to howls of orgasmic abandon, a stunning sound which seems to come from her very core. This voice weaves an inescapable spell, coaxing every insinuation of longing and desire from the luxuriant lyrics, and the effect is one of a pagan sensuality, of midsummer rites and bacchanalian rituals.
The heady atmosphere and dramatic sweep of ‘Purple Nights’ is not the only thing to admire here: this track really rocks. The heavy, swaggering backing calls to mind 70’s blues-rock legends like Led Zeppelin, and the sound somehow manages to straddle the line between accessible punk-pop and theatrical Goth-Metal. Musically, Joana & The Wolf are muscular and masculine, but with an unequivocally feminine soul. Like Kate Bush, her most obvious influence, Joana is sexual, complex and intelligent: not a girl, not even a grrrl, but very much a woman.‘Purple Nights’ is a bold, un-commercial choice as the first release from the Regal imprint’s new singles club. With a bit of luck, some of the future records will come close to the imaginative scale and impact of this unique and darkly beautiful track. For the time being, it looks like Regal have given us this summer’s anti-anthem.
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