[rating=4.00]
It’s not often one hears a new recording that immediately grabs the listener as something to which you’ll need to listen over and over. However, Norwegian Ane Brun’s new (and eighth) album, It All Starts With One, does exactly that. It is full of layers of emotion, panned out across her beautiful and multi-faceted voice (a voice whose incredible, haunting versatility may be familiar to some listeners as a collaborator on Peter Gabriel’s recent New Blood album). And indeed, perhaps it could be said that It All Stars With One is about Brun’s voice. It commands repeat exposure, displaying its incredible versatility across the albums as she drops hooks and twists, sometimes soaring in powerful joy, other times bearing low in near Beth Gibbons-esque darkness, still other times warbling (in a good way!) through particularly emotive passages – and always seeming to bear the cross of deeply felt emotions.
Throughout It All Starts With One, the instrumentation perfectly complements – indeed, highlights – her unique voice. Ranging from the rolling drums and percussive accents of “These Days” and “One,” to the lightly played guitar of “Words” and “Lifeline,” the clear purpose of the instruments on this album is to give her amazing voice opportunities to explore innumerable emotions, sounds, and styles.
If you’re looking for a dynamic new way of engaging with human emotions through the voice of an incredibly talented songstress, look no further: this is a great album.
