Anne Garner

Be Life

‘Be Life’ is the new album from England’s Anne Garner, and it’s currently scheduled for joint release on Slowcraft and Unperceived Records on the 19th of June. Her music is appropriately dressed for the season of mild air and temperate climes. Her voice ruffles the thin curtains of the music, like a light breeze that’s left to drift through an open window. Her music is a kind of vision; a transparent ambient sound that’s dusted with a little alternative pop and some light, melodic electronics. Ambient tones caress and deepen the music. It’s a heady potion that will leave you dazed.

Her soft voice swirls in the midst of the evening air, as light as a piece of pink, fluffy candyfloss. The music’s sweet in both texture and in colour. Her voice rises high and then lands gently into a puff of barely-there reverb. The textures develop slowly, but they’re always in a state of progression. The ambient layer surrounds the entire space, but so does the deep resonance of the piano. And all the while, her music has a special charm to it. It’s magic. Her lyrics are a form of poetry, thoughtful in tone, and like a rainy day in June they occasionally darken the music. They also give a little more weight to the otherwise airy arpeggios of ‘Your Name’. Ambient ornaments hang like soft lights from the awning of the music’s pristine, white shack. Her music is spectral to the eye and to the ear, giving off faint impressions that are neither here nor there. ‘Soft Eyes’ is dreamy and ethereal, thinly veiled like the silky fabric of a summer dress. Delayed pools of amber light drift into the music, and little by little her voice enters, never rising above the faintest of whispers. Sometimes, her voice rocks with a gentle sadness, but it’s oh-so-delicate. ‘Soft Eyes’ highlights her sensitive and thoughtful approach to composing, singing and song-writing. There are only two lines, but sometimes that’s all you need. It’s an effective, moving piece of music.

A little bit of percussion goes a long way, and in ‘Wednesday’s Child’ the beat walks pleasantly beside the vocal. It doesn’t dampen the ambiance; it just keeps the music ticking. ‘Leave Your Bed’ calls you outside; a dreamy, nocturnal command that you can’t ignore. The metallic chimes of ‘Come In’ echo outwards, and then her beautiful voice opens the door. They’re not just pretty songs – they have a real emotional weight and depth. They comfort, they console and they protect. She treats the music like a son or a daughter, as if it were the most precious person in the world. It’s the way that music should be treated. It isn’t just something to listen to, but something to experience, something to cherish. Don’t let it be music; let it be life. The music’s introverted ambient textures swirl around constantly, but as soon as her voice comes through, the jet-scorched pace of life under the blue orb disappears and melts away. The listener’s cradled in a protective bubble that leaves everything outside of it shimmering in slow motion.

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