Anna Nalick - Broken Doll & Odds & Ends

Somewhen around 2008 I had somehow given up hope that there would ever be a second album by Anna Nalick (see evidence here) whose debut  Wreck of the Day I absolutely love. So I missed the release of her second full length album Broken Doll & Odds & Ends. On her website you can read about her leaving SonyMusic in 2010 and she self-published her second record in 2011.
I've been listening to it since yesterday - already in love. The title track "Broken Doll" is a good opener. I want to share the lyrics and realized that a picture search for the phrase really comes up with disturbing images...
But here it is, the song and the lyrics.




Old discarded broken doll,
whatever are you smiling for?
They left you alone again,
dirty face and half naked
for whoever wants a place in your broken heart.
In your store bought dreams that all looked so good
when you were in your teens

Somebody pick you up, dust you off
bring you to life.
Pretty broken baby,
pick you up, dust you off, bring you to life

I was such a lovely doll
they broke me and they left me on the shelf
sorry for myself I'd accepted
I'd never be more than broken plastic
with a broken heart
In my store bought dreams that all looked so good
when I was in my teens.

Somebody pick me up, dust me off
bring me to life,
Pretty broken baby,
pick me up, dust me off, bring me to life.

Well how long must we wait for love?
When all we've made is a waste of life
how long, how long, must we wait for love...

I found him, he was on the mend,
more broken than I'd ever been
then I shot him by surprise in the hear and
even though we were both discarded dolls
with broken hearts and store bought dreams
that all looked so good when we were in our teens,

Well we picked us up, dusted off,
brought us to life,
pretty broken babies,
picked us up, dusted off, brought us to life.
I was such a lovely doll... 

Anna Ternheim - The Night Visitor

Anna Ternheims newest album is called The Night Visitor and was published October 2011. The sound is different to Leaving on a Mayday, quieter perhaps, but this probably shows her qualities as a songwriter even better.

One of my favourite songs is a melancholic tune called  "The Longer The Waiting, The Sweeter The Kiss". Anna Ternheim sang it with Dave Ferguson live on Daves porch in Goodletsville, Tennessee:

Butterfly Boucher: 5678!

Great new song by Butterfly Boucher!

New album hoopefully coming out soon!  

...it's a science
And the beat is our alliance
But once you have it
There is method to the madness...

Unni Wilhelmsen

More than ten years ago a friend introduced me to a Norwegian singer/songwriter who quickly became one of my favourite artists, Unni Wilhelmsen. To Whom It May Concern was her first album and I know all the songs by heart. They spoke to me at the time and they still do. On her website she explains a lot about herself, her music and her lyrics. It somehow sums up why I like her music so much:

"I sing what I can't say. Maybe in music I find myself. I get to know me a little better for each song I write. Music plays a part in almost every aspect of my life and has done so from an early age. [...]"

The list of musicians she mentions as her inspiration includes some very familiar names:

"The creative universes of Suzanne Vega, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, Nick Drake, Tori Amos, Imogen Heap and many others have enchanted me for years. I feel like I’m part of a musical inheritance that recognizes itself in their music."

Over the years I kept track of her music although Norwegian music wasn't easy to come by sometimes. After the first one only her newest album Seven was officially released in Germany. One of the seven albums is in Norwegian and it was only a few weeks ago that I could purchase it.
After all these years I finally got to listen to her live. She was on tour with Katzenjammer and Unni was the reason why I got the concert ticket in the first place. It was magic to hear her sing and also great to talk to her for a few minutes after the show. She signed my CD and was happy to meet a fan.
That I am.

butterfly

...was noch dringend zu ergänzen ist: Sarah hatte einen Frontact, der extrem erwähnenswert ist
Butterfly Boucher ist seit dem zweiten Konzert auf Rotation in meinem CD-Player - wunderbar, die Frau!