Friday, 5 April 2019

Review - Anni Hogan – Lost In Blue






Anni Hogan – Lost In Blue (Cold Spring Records)

LP / CD /DL


5 April 2019


Multi-talented musician, producer, composer and DJ releases here new album. 

Originally rising to prominence via her association with Soft Cell, Anni Hogan returns with a fascinating album of cabaret and vaudeville tinged tracks comprising of several collaborations from members of Kraftwerk, Virgin Prunes and Bad Seeds.  

As a student at Leeds University in the late 70s she met Marc Almond and David Ball at a local live venue and was later asked to join Marc And The Mambas who also included Matt Johnson of The The.  Her work as part of the Mambas and also The Willing Sinners was pivotal in the cult success of Almond’s solo material as was her production of his albums Jacques and The Stars We Are.

Produced by David Ball and film score producer Riccardo Mulhall. Lost In Blue consists of eleven new tracks of crisp and clinical quality.  Beautiful orchestral arrangements and her gorgeous piano playing intertwine with a feel of bleakness and sordid torch which will strike a loving and sentimental chord with any fans of the grossly underrated Mambas.

Album opener, Lost Somewhere features Hogan on vocals against an almost ambient, Gaelic backdrop introducing some magnificent electro swirls and sax solo around the halfway mark.  It’s a wonderful start to an album that will grow and grow as it weaves its way beautifully and naturally from piece to piece.

Whether purposefully or not, many of the tracks feature the guest appearances in a spoken word format.  It works well, particularly as each artist presents a different tone and presentation which stops the sound of a bohemian Soho becoming commonplace and boring.  Kid Congo Powers (Cramps, Bad Seeds) provides the first taste of collaboration on My Career, a lamentable and enthralling.  

Silk Paper featuring Kraftwerk percussionist Wolfgang Flür is simply captivating.  His accent taking the song on a different slant – so descriptive and alluring that it becomes almost sexual as piano and strings melt with his mellow tones.  Along with Ghosts Of Soho featuring writer, actress and artist Celine Hispiche and, Making Blackpool Rock with Scarlet West it is one of the hard to pick highlights of the album.

Both Ghosts Of Soho and Making Blackpool Rock display a touch of anger as we weave down the bleakness of troubled society with a simple and honest depiction of modern times, before John Fiddler of Medicine Head closes the album with the title track, a blues infused lament containing some wonderful harmonica.

Lost In Blue is a fine album, created with passion and a love for all things tattered and torn.  Be impressed.




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