Agua de Annique - Air
CD Info
2007
The End Records
13 Tracks
English Lyrics
Anneke van Giersbergen has always been one of my all-time favorite vocalists. She has one of the most beautiful and emotive voices I’ve ever heard. It’s her voice that got me hooked on her former band, The Gathering. They composed great music together, and that music was elevated to even higher grounds with Anneke singing them. So no need to say that I was sad hearing that Anneke had left The Gathering. Though, I took solace in the fact that she was still going to continue making music in her new project, Agua de Annique. I was curious how Anneke would fare in creating music by herself. Well, I was certainly surprised with the results.
The style of music that Anneke has decided to make is not unlike the music she made with The Gathering. The songs on this album are very much in line with some of The Gathering’s latest offerings. I would say they’re less trippy though, and more "pretty." Anneke does sound great throughout the album, as she always does. It’s just a shame that most of the songs she sings aren’t of very high caliber.
"Witnesses", "Ice Water", "Sunken Soldier’s Ball", and "Lost and Found" (which, by the way, features guest vocals from Kristin Fjellseth from Pale Forest) are the only songs on Air that I truly enjoy and would actually want to listen to. The rest of the songs—with the exception of the horrible "You Are Nice!"—are just unremarkable. They are not good, nor are they bad—it’s like they are just there taking up space on the album. After listening to the album as many times as I have I still have no feelings, negative or positive, for any of the songs (save for the ones that I previously mentioned). They’re filler in every sense of the word.
It’s a shame that a great talent of Anneke has resorted to singing an album comprised mostly of filler songs. I had very high expectations for this album, and was sorely let down by the result. There’s not much going for or against this album for me. If you’re an Anneke fan as I am, I would proceed with caution in purchasing this album.
6 / 10
