Veronica Swift flips the script on This Bitter Earth, the captivating follow-up to her 2019 Mack Avenue Records debut, Confessions. Whereas Confessions played out like pages from her personal diary, on the new album, the 27-year-old singer and master song interpreter looks outward while addressing social ills that plague the world today. This Bitter Earth takes on the song-cycle characteristics of such classic LPs as Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, and Mary J. Blige's My Life. For her album, Swift tackles sexism ["How Lovely to Be a Woman"], domestic abuse ["He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)"], racism/ xenophobia ["You've Got to Be Carefully Taught"] and the dangers of fake news ["The Sports Page"]. Accompanied by a team of kindred spirts that includes pianist Emmet Cohen, guitarist Armand Hirschand, flutist Aaron Johnson, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Bryan Carter, Swift curates material that covers multiple genres, including jazz, American musicals, vintage R&B and contemporary rock.

Swift delves into a dramatic yet sardonic makeover of "How Lovely to Be a Woman," a Charles Strouse and Lee Adams tune from the 1960 musical, Bye Bye Birdie. Themes of abuse appears with Swift's cover of the Crystals' 1962 provocative R&B tune "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)." "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" comes from a musical – 1949's South Pacific. The envelope-pushing, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II-penned song illustrates how racism and xenophobia are learned behaviors, often projected onto children during their early development. The album switches gears with Swift's cunning version of Dave Frishberg's socially conscious song "The Sports Page." She uses the song's topical lyrics to invoke the prevalence of fake news during President Trump's administration.

"I want this album to have two separate approaches," she explains. "I wanted to start with women's place in society now and how it's changing. During the second half, I wanted to address other ailments in the world, whether it's racism or fake news. But I don't take any political stances. I'm very clear with my audience that as an artist I address certain issues as an outsider looking in." Now with This Bitter Earth, her second Mack Avenue Records album, Swift's ascendance as a 21st century jazz torchbearer continues.