Saturday, August 27, 2005

Anna Nalick - Wreck Of The Day

Well surprise suprise that I should be drawn to a rather attractive piece of teasely that plays the piano... :D

Anyway, such concerns are not relevant here, the point is whether or not the album is any good...? And for the most part it is. Definately striking for the same kind of sound you would expect from Tori Amos or Fiona Apple, this is a very good album indeed, all the more satisfying considering it is a debut, and Anna recorded it at the age of 21.

However, as it is a debut, she seems to have been rail-roaded into the occasional over-production of tracks when it seems clear that her voice is more suited to more subtle, paired-down surroundings. Hit US single Breath (2 Am) is the kind of song that should have been a huge success over here (being as it is about 300 times better than the warblings of James Blunt) whereas Citadel aims to match the best that Fiona Apple has, and very nearly succeeds in doing so. The standount tracks however are Paper Bag and Satellite, both of which add a bit more tempo to proceedings and have the kind of sing-a-long choruses that Radio 2 listeners seem to love.

The album does petre out towards the end (save the sublime Catalyst) but even so, for a debut album this is a wonderful slice of piano driven pop. It augurs well for the future.

Icon's View - 3 1/2 out of 5

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