Anneke Van Giersbergen
Everything Is Changing

Let's be honest, with the release of "In Your Room" I had written off Anneke Van Giersbergen, and with her the band Agua De Annique. An album too flat, without ideas, just dull, barely held up by the usual adorable voice. Too sad to be true. Probably the most famous singer from the Netherlands must have had the same idea. So for her third solo album, the band name disappears. It is simply Anneke Van Giersbergen. Preceded by an uninspiring leading single, I still convinced myself to listen to it. Such a voice is forgiven unconditionally even for the last of the trash. And then, faith in the lady's talent remains intact. A flop is not enough to erase almost twenty years of glorious career.

And indeed! "Everything Is Changing" is not an epoch-making album, but it is nonetheless alive and overflowing with verve. Twelve songs, almost all under four minutes, very well-varied, very well-produced, and very engaging. A substantial sound change compared to the two previous works in favor of faster rhythms, electronic contaminations and rock references to a past we wouldn't want to be past (you know what I mean).

It must be said that there are some slips, for example an opener a bit too simple or a ballad like Circles, too cloying to be useful.

To counterbalance, the album gains momentum in the more intense songs, like the wonderful Take Me Home, held up by dense drums and swirling keyboards, or like You Want To Be Free, with an epic chorus and excellent guitar riffs. But above all, in this album Anneke reconciles with her voice, using it in the full range of her register. We are not at the levels of Eleanor or Kevin's Telescope, but listening to Stay, Too Late or 1000 Miles Away From Home, you can realize that the flatness of "In Your Room" is just a bad memory. It must also be said that the album accomplishes a difficult feat, as it remains homogeneous while ranging from rock of times gone by (always Too Late) to slower songs with a clear electronic setup like the title track or I Wake Up. Thus, it fits into that rare genre which is "high-level" pop rock.

In short, the judgment is more than good. One might venture a bit more than the classic 3 stars, however, we are still talking about a light album. So we need to see if in two or three months, or in a year, it will still remain alive in our memory. If it does, we'll add the star it deserves.

In any case, a very pleasant surprise.

7.0