You and Me

Nancy Wilson

Despite releasing albums alongside her sister Ann as the core of Heart for nearly 50 years, You and Me is Nancy Wilson’s first solo album, and the veteran rocker proves she works just fine on her own. Wilson spends a fair bit of time on You

and Me honouring people who have passed, whether it be her mother on the title track, fellow guitar legend Eddie Van Halen on album-closing instrumental “4 Edward,” and Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley on “The Dragon,” a grungy song that dates back to the early 1990s. That song is a bit of an outlier on the record as it’s the only one that doesn’t have the warm, intimate feel of the rest of the release.

Wilson is in great voice throughout and gets plenty of opportunity to show her well-documented proficiency on electric and acoustic guitar. Covers of songs by Springsteen, Simon & Garfunkel, and others, along with appearances by guests like Sammy Hagar and the Foo Fighters’s Taylor Hawkins add further variety. If this is the kind of music Wilson has been holding on to over the years, let’s hope there are more solo endeavours to come.