Live And Alone In New York
Self-Released, 2021
8/10
Listen to Live And Alone In New York
The veteran singer-songwriter Anya Marina recorded these songs across 2 nights in December of 2019, where Eric Hutchinson takes on producer duties across tracks that span her entire catalog.
“Move You” starts the listen with Marina’s very distinct singing alongside initially sparse guitar, which abruptly bursts into a playful, folk-influenced strummer, and this formula continues to the poetic and pretty “Notice Me”, as well as the bluesy nods of “Can’t Nobody Love You”.
In the middle, “Is This Love” moves softly with a romantic spirit, where Marina’s warm storytelling is easily relatable, while “Snowflake” emits timeless songwriting that’s both sweet and charming. “Shut Up”, an album highlight, is then a vocally strong and musically bare display of clever song craft.
Near the end, “Queen Of The Night” showcases Marina’s impressive vocal range amid electric guitar, and “Go To Bed” exits the listen in a lullaby sort of way that truly does leave the listener wanting more.
Marina handles both acoustic and electric guitar here, and even piano on a Taylor Swift cover, and the backstories to her songs provides some comedy alongside the intimate and very forthright wordplay. For someone like myself who was unfamiliar with her work, this serves as an excellent introduction that certainly piqued my interest to explore more.
Travels well with: Eric Hutchinson- Class Of 98; Greg Laswell- Landline