Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Ane Brun, Balloon Ranger Recordings 2020.
I have been a fan of Ane Brun since hearing her Duets album which was recorded with Ron Sexsmith and released back in 2005.
Her biggest album to date was It All Starts With One, released in 2011, and After The Great Storm is her ninth album.
What I like about her work, apart from the fact that she is a wonderful singer songwriter, is her fantastic breathy vocals and the level of maturity exhibited in her thoughtful lyrics.
After The Great Storm is one of two albums that she intends releasing this year, the other is the intriguingly titled How Beauty holds The Hand Of Sorrow.
She’s already released at least four singles that I know of and each of them has been wonderful.
The process of writing the songs for these two albums started back in September 2019 with collaborators Martin Hederos and Anton Sundell.
As they worked through the writing process they ended up with a substantial amount of material that they liked so much they found it impossible to cull, so the decision to release two albums was made.
Of course COVID-19 had a major impact on the project. Firstly, it provided the extended time to continue the writing and recording process and secondly it amplified what the majority of the songs were about.
Ane says that the songs explore the ‘big questions of life’ and although most of them were written before the pandemic they’ve taken on additional meaning as a result of it.
The deplorable state of world politics, the loss of loved ones, loneliness made worse by forced isolation, insecurities, these are some of the themes that have reappeared time and time again as artists of all mediums, including musicians, struggle to make sense of 2020.
We are all living through a defining moment in world history and it is naturally being reflected in the output of songwriters.
I recently reviewed her single Honey, which is brilliant, and there are four more video clips for her recent singles on YouTube.
After The Great Storm is a fantastic album and it will hopefully be her breakthrough in the lucrative US market.
