Anne Briggs
The Time Has Come

THE REVIEW

“When you hold this booklet in your hands, know that in the 21st century, you are holding the most tenacious, human, and tangible document of the 1960s British folk legend, Anne Briggs. And when you hear her swan song dated 1971, The Time Has Come, listen to her bare voice like the wind resting on the thirteen songs, the recorded document of an erratic career, then your hands will be empty, gripping nothing but air. Anne will have escaped capture once again...” (From the album notes)

Anne Briggs is one of the most interesting figures in English folk and yet, as often happens, she is not always remembered. Her existence and her music always seem to me suspended, difficult to place temporally and stylistically, almost as if wrapped in an indefinable aura of mystery. In particular, it is her voice that strikes me; with its incredibly wild and genuine flavor, free and ungraspable, that envelops me every time I listen to her. No special effects, no tricks: Anne Briggs' songs are full of their own strength, they are undoubtedly a gift from Mother Nature and represent in their purity the ideal song of creation in its original state. Anne Briggs has always been an elusive and unusual figure in her uniqueness, and it is no surprise that listening to her gives the impression of facing a delicate creature on the run.

"The Time Has Come" (1971) is her second album (excluding the 4-track LP dated 1964) and will be, alas, the second-to-last. In fact, Anne Briggs left the music scene after her third album at just 27 years old and retired to a private life. She left us about thirty songs, and we dreamers can only try to grasp them, forgetting for a moment that freedom cannot be possessed.