Connolly, Anna

***Anna Connolly’s songs lay bare a personal and often dark world of emotion and perspective on the human experience. Her music is catchy yet stark, and her lyrics pull no punches. A simple rawness is key to her art. Her music evokes the spirit of Conor Oberst, Jen Cloher, Elliott Smith and Leonard Cohen. Anna’s songs are powerful through the deep vulnerability they reveal. Anna’s music combines engaging story-telling with subdued, minimal guitar playing; even her quiet acoustic songs have a raw punk edge to them. She has a kind of rich Marianne Faithful huskiness to her voice, but she can also undersing a line and conjure up the sound of youthful innocence. The varied vocal qualities make it possible for her to shift between opposing kinds of emotional projection in the same song; poignant laments can become defiant, and she can sing about happy times while suggesting a wiser, sadder perspective. Features appearances from JOE LALLY (FUGAZI), DEVIN OCAMPO (EFFECTS, BEAUTY PILL, FARAQUET), EDDIE JANNEY, DON GODWIN (SLAVIC SOUL PARTY), HANNAH BURRIS (TEETHING VEILS), and others. “Punk in spirit rather than style, the assurance of Connolly’s songwriting is felt, the candor striking, the delivery sharp and focused”—The Vinyl District. Pressed at Pallas in Germany and packaged in heavy stock jackets with two-sided printed inserts.