Anja
McCloskey - Quincy Who Waits (Sotones Records)
CD/DL
Out Now
German born
singer, songwriter and accordionist releases her second album.
Based on the
evidence of Quincy Who Waits, ‘that difficulty second album’ is fatly becoming
a thing of the past as Hamburg born Anja McCloskey breezes through twelve
acoustic folk and traditional based tracks with confidence and aplomb.
The songs
are formed around the accordion sound which alone creates an uncommon sound
nowadays, and Anja’s often beautiful voice is uplifting and just simply very
special. With a CV that boasts work with
the likes of Helen McCookerybook and album credits with guest including Marcus
Hamblett of Eyes And No Eyes and Hannah Miller of the Moulettes amongst others,
the follow-up to 2012s An Estimation album is a fine fine piece of work.
Tracks like
Red are purely class. Telling the story
of many hours of driving alone through the Southern States of America it
painlessly glides along with an angelic breeze and comfort. Insane veers towards the Romany Gypsy sound
that becomes quite prevalent throughout the album.
The debut
single from the album, Too Many Words is haunting and stealthy. A lovely but simple arrangement is effective
and catchy, combining beautiful fiddle with gorgeous layered vocals. The tempo is lifted slightly with Why Tea which
boasts four different time signatures tucked away in an enigmatic track which
is jam packed with intrigue.
Amongst the
listing are three tracks which were written several years ago and gain their
first outing here. Suit Yourself, Henry
Lives and the stark The Calm sit perfectly with Anja’s new material. The later threatens to break into a harder
harsher track with the introduction of percussion and a marvellous male backing
voice, but resists the temptation perfectly.
The Des
Moines Memorial Bridge in Iowa contains a plaque inscribed with the words
‘Quincy Who Waits In The Daffodils’ which was the inspiration for the track of
the same name.
An often
moving and beautiful album which contains some quite stunning vocals and
musical arrangements could quite easily be one of the surprise releases of the
year.
8.5/10
Links
8.5/10
Links
Sotones Records
Anja McCloskey website
Anja McCloskey on Twitter
Eyes And No Eyes on hiapop Blog
Published on Louder Than War 22/08/14 - here
Anja McCloskey website
Anja McCloskey on Twitter
Eyes And No Eyes on hiapop Blog
Published on Louder Than War 22/08/14 - here
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