RIYL: Beth Gibbons, Florence and the Machine, Sarah McLaughlin
Ane Brun is a native of Norway but spends most of her time in Stockholm, Sweden. A prolific singer-songwriter, Brun has released a total of 8 albums since her 2003 debut “Spending Time with Morgan”. Though she planned to record her latest album “It All Starts with One” in 2010, opening slots with both Peter Gabriel and Ani Difranco made it necessary to put the process on hold for a few years. The album was finally released in May of 2012 and would eventually be certified platinum in Norway and earn her a Grammy equivalent, the Spellemann award, for best female artist.
The opener ‘These Days’, finds Ane weaving her vocals into a moving melody complete with haunting washes of organ and dramatic drum rolls. The track conjures an interesting moodiness, portraying a once-passionate relationship that’s burnt out. “You spelled your name in charcoal/ All over my body”, Brun sings, “But these days…/ I let you stay/ A little further away.”
She follows up with ‘Words’, a catchy ballad with gentle guitar strumming and whimsical teardrops of piano. The track builds slowly, adding strings and multi-layered vocal harmonies but the decibel level never quite rises above a hush. It’s characteristic of many of the offerings here. ‘What’s Happening With You And Him’ follows a similar formula but mostly flounders, dragging things out over four and a half minutes with a brief crescendo at the end.
While dirge would be too strong a word, the mood on “It All Starts with One” is slow and sad more often than not. The two welcome exceptions to this are the tracks ‘One’ and ‘Do You Remember’, the latter of which served as a breakout hit of sorts for Brun. The video for ‘Do You Remember’, featuring highly stylized scenes of Ane and her blonde haired nurses putting the fire into a hapless patient, has accrued over 3.5 million hits on You Tube.
Though an obvious choice for the single, it’s a very unique slice of songwriting in the vein of Foster the Peoples’ ‘Pumped up Kicks’ or Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’. Primal sounding drumbeats propel the track forward through sparse instrumentation as Brun recalls a love affair gone wrong. “Do you remember?” she asks, “When we forgot how to smile at each other/ to believe that the other/ Wants only what’s good for you?”
While the songwriting might be uneven on “It All Starts with One”, Brun’s lyrics are consistently razor-sharp and fearless, and her vocals are impeccable. It’s definitely worth a listen.
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For More Information Visit:
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http://www.anebrun.com
http://www.facebook.com/anebrunofficial
http://www.myspace.com/anebrun
http://www.last.fm/music/Ane+Brun
http://vimeo.com/anebrun
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