Review: Anjulie - "Anjulie"
Soulful Singer Melds '60s Lounge Music with Modern Pop and R&B
Sep 11, 2009
Released in August 2009, Anjulie Persaud's "Anjulie," is a fresh-sounding mix of genres and songcraft that sets the singer-songwriter's pure-sounding, girlish voice against a backdrop of musical styles.
This feels nothing like factory-produced, calculated music.
Tremolo guitars and shaker-like backing vocals (the addictive opener, "Boom") meet programmed hip-hop synths and beats (the accurately titled "Addicted2Me"). Motown Soul ("I Want the World to Know") meets acoustic country/folk ("When It's Love").
It's a diverse collection of songs that defies easy categorization. Anjulie's voice is the glue that holds it all together. (Anjulie is credited as the sole writer -- or co-writer -- for every song.)
The result is an album varied enough to inspire -- and reward -- multiple listenings.
Song by Song: From "Boom" to "When It's Love"
"Boom"
Lyrically, this couldn't be much simpler. In a nutshell: "My heart goes boom whenever you're around." But musically, "Boom" is a perfectly arranged piece of retro-pop that mixes tremolo-ed surf guitar with brass and timpani stabs that call to mind the movie soundtracks of the mid-1960s.
The only drawback: This song establishes a hip, Amy Winehouse-meets-T-Bone Burnett vibe that really doesn't appear again on any other track. So its unique sound makes it more of a stand-alone single than a true taste of things to come, but it works nonetheless.
"Rain"
The only real "story song" on the album, telling tale of love found -- then lost. This is a modern R&B groove that, like several tracks here, could have been cut by Rihanna. (But maybe Rihanna doesn't need any more precipitation-related songs.)
"Some Dumb Girl"
The narrator as "the other woman" who doesn't want to sneak around like "some dumb whore" (the phrase that actually appears in the song). Musically, this is pure R&B, blending a contemporary sensibility with a groove reminiscent of 70s Soul.
"Addicted2Me"
A thoroughly modern R&B track with enough hooks to last for days -- from the feathery chorus vocals to the overdriven -- and attitude-laden -- "nobody got a love like mine" phrases that follow. (If there's a deficiency, it's in the unfinished feel of the songwriting: The song basically has just one verse, a bridge, and lots of choruses.)
"Crazy That Way"
An opening string ensemble leads into a piano theme that gives this track a distinct Vanessa Carlton (or even Alicia Keys) feel, while the lyrics tell how the narrator doesn't care what others say about her love.
"Fatal Attraction"
Soft-edged pop, with heavier-sounding programmed drums trading off with finger-picked acoustic guitars and cello.
"The Heat"
Name-checking Nina Simone and featuring the bounciest, Caribbean-tinged beat on the album, this is one of the most immediately likable cuts on the album.
"Colombia"
A cheery bossa nova that is the closest echo to "Boom" in terms of tone and musical style. Nothing deep here, lyrically: "Pack your bags, let's go to Colombia" for a getaway.
"Same Damn Thing"
"Same Damn Thing" blends an upbeat melody with a K.T. Tunstall vibe that is far more lighthearted than the lyrics. Anjulie has a penchant for combining pretty, hummable melodies and feel-good arrangements with lyrics conveying not so feel-good emotions ("Got a knife in my back and a bad, bad headache"). It works.
"I Want the World to Know"
Pure 1970s, bouncing Motown Soul, with fun "girl group" chorus vocals ("A-Hoo!"). Again, lyrics that go down like cold lemonade on a hot summer day: "I want the world to know I love you."
"Love Songs"
Another upbeat track with bossa-nova leanings , feeling like a cut off of Lily Allen's latest CD, but without any hint of Allen's snark ("I fall so easy for the cheesy things in life...").
"Day Will Soon Come"
A lush mid-tempo ballad that feels like prescient, self-fulfilling prophecy (particularly for the disc's last "official" track): "They don't know me yet (the day will soon come)."
"When It's Love"
A tender ballad that begins (and ends) with an a cappella Anjulie, who is joined, slowly, by strings, harmony vocals, and a finger-picked acoustic guitar. The perfect closer. . . and an invitation to immediately hit "Repeat" and do it all over again.
A Fresh New Artist
While many of Anjulie's pop and R&B contemporaries release albums tending toward the over-stuffed and over-produced, it's refreshing to discover an artist that doesn't unnecessarily layer on walls of synths and guitars, 30+ tracks of highly compressed (or overly tuned) vocals, and the kind of tiresome vocal calisthenics that leave you wishing the singer would just find one good note and actually sing it.
Here, Anjulie hits nothing but good notes -- and she delivers them playfully, with tasteful restraint.
* * *
Interested in contemporary music? Read reviews of recent releases by Imogen Heap and Muse.
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