Katrina Ford

 Is phoenixing a word? It should be, but even if it isn't, Katrina Ford has been an expert at rising from the ashes with songs that reflect her struggles as well as her strength since her time with JAKS, the '90s Chicago band whose grand guignolgoth was engineered by the late, great Steve Albini. JAKS was also Ford's first project with her partner and long-time collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Sean Antanaitis. Together, they founded Celebration, a group whose fittingly festive blend of Psychedelic soul and Baroque-pop -- as well as the airy highs and fierce lows of Ford's vocals -- made their five albums (2005's Celebration, 2007's The Modern Tribe, 2011's Hello Paradise - Electric Tarot, 2014's Albumin, and 2017's Wounded Healer) cult classics. During and later, TV on the Radio, Future Islands, Foals, Unkle and Mt. Royal sought out her spellbinding singing.

Following her 2022 ST/EP, H.E.A.R.T., Ford was ready to rise from the ashes again. Having left Celebration behind and slowly emerging from the pandemic, she spent her days tuning pipe organs with Antanaitis -- a job that honed her musical ear to precision. At night, she worked with him on new songs. "It's so tightly knit and so scary to have it all in one person," Ford says of their partnership, which inspired the sweeping drama of "No Canyon." Blending wildly different sounds together with ease is what Ford and Antanaitis do, and H.E.A.R.T. is no exception. Drawn from the times her mother told her to "hold your horses" when she was a little girl, "Horses" is a spectacular fusion of gospel power and psychedelic rock. "We're maximalists," Ford says. I love all kinds of music -- the vocals and recording techniques of Phil Spector and girl group pop, the weirdo pop of '80s legends like Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel, and the punk and goth that's in my bones." She harnesses the might of '80s power ballads on "Eagle and Dove," which brings the album into its triumphant home stretch and abolishes the concept of guilty pleasures for good.

As bold as she sounds, Ford reaches newfound levels of vulnerability on H.E.A.R.T. The synth-pop epic "Cry Wolf" confronts disbelievers -- in this case, the medical professionals unwilling to give credence to her health issues -- with a fearlessness that could send walls tumbling. And while it's hard to imagine a singer with such a gorgeously formidable voice ever doubting herself, Ford wrote one of the album's most touching songs, "Ready or Not," to find the courage to record with Sir Robin Millar CBE. Known for his work on Sade's classic album Diamond Life and with Everything But the Girl, he captures Katrina's voice on "Horses" and "No Canyon."

Happier moments also get their due on H.E.A.R.T. The wonder that hides in everyday surroundings shines on "Dundalk Dungeon," a shimmering tribute to a subterranean Baltimore speakeasy near the Key Bridge. And while H.E.A.R.T. was inspired by musical therapy for shadow work, Ford uncovers rays of hope in the most unlikely places. World on a Wire, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1973 TV miniseries about simulated reality, spurred her to write the surprisingly sunny song of the same name: "If it's not real, then neither is the gloom and doom, and we can steer it towards something better," she explains. Fleshed out with touches from producer Tony Doogan (Mogwai, Belle & Sebastian), and engineer Steve Wright (Future Islands), H.E.A.R.T. is a full-bodied expression of Ford's resilience, tenderness, and capacity for magic. In other words, it's phoenixing at its finest.