Anna Rose
White Pony
It is always a treat to check out an up and coming artist before her name becomes a household word. Singer-songwriter Anna Rose has released a five song E.P. as a teaser to a much larger work. Rose’s voice has a winsome distinct timbre that carries well throughout these story songs. That former Doors producer Bruce Botnick is her executive producer makes it obvious that influential people are behind this New York native.
She opens this CD with “The Four Corners” and right off the bat it is clear Rose can hold her own in the folk-rock and singer-songwriter arenas. Her voice finds the right pitch to keep it an edge above an edgy backing band. A confidence in her voice foretells an ability to stay in the driver’s seat no matter how rambunctious and rugged or sweet and smooth her musical turns take.
“Picture,” a rocker with heavy guitars and a driving beat showcases the aggressive side of her abilities. This song builds up with a dark, edgy guitar lead that tracks her up to the top of the roller coaster. From there, Rose plunges into this rocker with deliberate intention.
“In The Morning View” features more of Rose’s fetching vocal ability. Here, it climbs a terrain of grinding guitars and a slow but deeply felt groove from the rhythm section. With her voice and songwriting Rose could become as big as Melissa Etheridge, with rock clubs being the obvious choice for her to debut her material. It is hard to imagine someone this firmly planted in the aggressive side of folk-rock getting by with just an acoustic guitar accompanyment.
Rose and her band mellows out on “Wilshire Blvd,” her acoustic guitar gently augmented by sweet and slowly stirring organ swirls. Her pretty voice blends in so well with the organ, piano, and acoustic guitar that she has hit maker written all over her. She simply comes across with a sound that can win over listeners. She falls in that mid-tempo to up tempo vocal melody and folk-rock range of Fleetwood Mac and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
“You Got It For Free” tells the tale of someone with a lot of life experience for a 24 year old woman. Again, a balance between pretty voice with acoustic guitar against a solid band with a rock and roll streak creates her sound. Bluesy slide and Rose’s earthy voice ride out this song with a natural blend that speaks well for this singer-songwriter’s potential.
