Agua De Annique
Air

Let’s just say that Anneke Van Giersbergen’s decision to leave The Gathering was more than legitimate. Due to motherhood, the Dutch singer decided to stay away from the stage for a while and focus on her family, while forming her own band, Agua de Annique. In a decision also linked to motherhood, the band did not perform concerts abroad for several years but limited itself to short tours around the Netherlands. Now that the time is right for the third album (scheduled for January 2012), the moment has also arrived for a European tour.

But let's get to the album in question, "Air," the first effort for the newborn band. It must be said that Anneke had already demonstrated excellent compositional skills with the Gathering; My Electricity, for instance, is all her creation. So, the good premises were there. And in this debut album, the promises have been kept.

Air follows the line of the Gathering's later albums, especially Home; however, the music is much more sparse, showing that the band behind the singer is, unfortunately, of quite a different caliber. We are confronted with an album of rarefied atmospheres and sweet lullabies. Beautiful one is vaguely reminiscent of All The Good People, yet lacks its unsettling atmosphere. The same goes for other songs like Day after Yesterday or Come Wonder With Me. Tracks dominated by minimal guitars and atmospheric keyboards, all aimed at highlighting the singer's wonderful voice. There are also two quite driven tracks like Witnesses and You Are Nice (which seems like the angrier version of Liberty Bell), while the real cherry on top is Sunken Soldiers Ball. A cover, yet the only piece truly filled with pathos and drama, a small gem that inevitably stands out in a collection perhaps a bit too uniform.

A good first attempt, just as the first for the new Gathering was good. However, the idea remains that the whole was greater than, and not a little, the sum of its parts.

6.5