Ann Vriend’s disc, When We Were Spies, is an exciting collection 10 new songs and one cover of a Neil Young classic “Rocking in the Free World.”  

The production by Doug Romanow is lush, yet subtle, and it puts Vriend’s literate songwriting and expressive vocal style in epic-like dioramas.  For each cut on the disc, Romanov and Vriend seem to have created a mini movie score.  In our current world of mostly bare-bone production values (stuff like Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s Burning Sands disc of last year for example) , this disc comes as a treat to the listener’s ears.  For me, this kind of work harkens back to the seventies when bigger and more interesting production were the norm: the Carpenters, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, etc.  

One thing that you will notice, even on your first listen, is the joy that springs from the music.  The performances bloom with a vibrant life force.  We can tell she’s having fun—and giving us a gift of music that is at once personal, inviting, and universal.  And although this should be evident in all music, unfortunately it isn’t.  Contrived, fame-seeking music spawned from our hyper-competitive glut of idol contestants can NEVER have this kind of soul.

Ann Vriend describes her music as “Baroque Pop” a term that identifies her with other artists that love balanced phrasing, beauty, and clarity.  However, to me this classification is somewhat misleading because this disc is more akin to the Romantic period than the Baroque period—Vriend is more like Chopin than Bach.  But, whatever: classifications are an unavoidable evil to original and interesting artists like Vriend.  Besides, there currently is no recognizable term such as “Romantic Pop” (not even on Wikipedia!).  And if it did exist, the connotations of the term may be co-opted by that cringe-worthy kind of corn-syrup music coming out of Nashville and other places that are still holding onto their factory approach to writing, recording, and distributing music.  It’s likely best if we never make the mistake of comparing Ann Vriend with that kind of bland homogenized sound.  So Baroque Pop it is!

One person who comes to my mind when thinking about Vriend’s lyrics is Leonard Cohen.  She has the same kind of poetic sensibilities in creating imagery that carries the story, not with vivid, harsh, realistic colors and brush strokes, but rather with interesting, more-nebulous shades of color and abstract forms.  Like Cohen, we can still follow the story line and be there, but we are brought into these worlds through a fourth dimension.  It is a world filled with grinning jack-o-lanterns, forgotten missions, disguises, radio waves, etc. all held together by a Cohen-like search for authenticity in relationships and life.

When We Were Spies is an appropriate title.  Vriend is like a spy ducking in and out of the shadows.  We may want to pin her down, but we cannot.  She’ll forever be just ahead of our grasp moving romantically beyond the brick and mortar of mundane music.  But the best thing about this spy is that we know she’s on our side—one of the good guys.  As she convincingly sings on her cover of Neil Young’s classic: “keep on rocking in the free world.”

This remarkable disc will stand the test of time and is one of my favorite recordings to come out of anywhere in the last while.  On one of her songs, Vriends asks, “Will you suspend your disbelief?”  Music lovers everywhere should say yes and enter into the spaces created by this world-class spy, singer, and songwriter.

-	Marv Machura
www.marvmachura.com
                            Read more...
                        

                            
I bought this on the strength of one track I heard on the CBC radio. I liked all of the tracks, even the ones not composed by Ann. The arrangements were great and her voice came through clearly, a good album.
                            Read more...