Sincerely Anne thrives on the dramatic. Not the kitsch, over-tuned sort of dramatic, but the driving, thumping, emotion dumping sort of dramatic. Her music hinges on pulsing beats and synth experimentalism, coupled with breathy vocals which never fail to raise the roof either.
Her debut album is an extensive exploration of just that. Marrying the dramatic with the nuanced, the cinematic with the gentle, as she unfurls an extensive repertoire of love songs in all their forms.
Eerie, beeping synth and silvery vocals set the scene with “YSYLM” – as in “you say you love me” – which pivots off a relationship winding to a uncomfortable end. This is a common theme throughout – from the summer anthem that is “Do You Think of Me too, Sometimes?”, and the pizzicato pining of “This One’s for You”.
But then there are a fair share love songs in there too–almost all hinged on the sort of thumping beat which elevates her sound above your typical pop confluence. A grating beat drives “Dying to Love You”, and the gut punch of texture in “Quick Fix”, which centres around the very relatable concept of putting yourself first when it comes to love.
She strips things right back for some piano balladry in “Sweet Solitude”, pulls on an infectiously bouncy pop rhythm in the shamelessly sweet love song that is “Beautiful Things”, and wraps things up with full-bodied, gorgeously tempered request for a truce in “Cease Fire”.
And while she might occasionally err on the basis of predictability, Sincerely Anne delivers her debut with a gut punch of sound and sentimentalities which don’t fail to impress.
Feature pic supplied by artist
