With her big personality, ubiquitous media presence and tremendous wit, we often forget what brought to her prominence in the first place, her songwriting. But it doesn't take long to zip through this best-of to remind us of the quantity and the quality of her writing chops. From her first hit, "I Would Die For You," through her break-out album Living Under June, with cuts like "Could I Be Your Girl" and "Good Mother," up to 2017's "Everybody's Pulling On Me," Arden's backed up all other charms with that bedrock talent.
Her other major weapon is dynamic voice, which lets her own the covers she chooses. That includes "Insensitive," still her best-known hit, and her very strong remake of Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me," already a brilliant song that she manages to equal. This compilation does a good job of spreading the love a bit further than her biggest, early hits, leaving room for excellent later tracks such as "Cherry Popsicle" and "Sleepless." That does mean it's not a thorough compilation though, omitting huge fan favourites including "Unloved" and "You Don't Know Me," the Eddy Arnold cover.
Instead, this is a cross-promotion set to tie in with her popular TV show, Jann, now in season two. That means we get songs that are being featured in those shows, including the original cut "Mother Mine," with actress Zoie Palmer. There's a live version of "Insensitive," taken from a CTV-aired concert (quite good too, stripped back with piano and excellent backing vocals), and another new release, a cool cover of the Cure's "Lovesong," from Scott Helman's Hotel Sessions show. There's probably some new, young fans out there from the TV show who are just starting to learn about Jann, and this gives them a good primer, plus it has a few novelties for the hardcores.
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