Anne Bandez is an American singer, painter, poet, writer, performing and recording artist and stage actor also known as Little Annie / Annie Anxiety. Her artistic journey has seen her work with a diverse array of musicians, contributing significantly to the experimental and avant-garde scenes. A new album `With` is released this month which features the cream of her many collaborations with some of the best known names in the alternative music world.
The album opens with a live track `Yesterday When I Was Young` introduced by and sung as a duo with Marc Almond. It`s a Chanson song from Annie`s `When Good Things Happen To Bad Pianos` album and a song co-written by Charles Aznavour. The pair`s vocal delivery really complement each other on this reflection on wasting younger years on hedonistic pursuits and now older, unable to do everything they had planned.
The singer joins post-industrial experimental pioneers Coil for `Things Happen` a track which was written by Little Annie and was on Coil`s 1991 album `Love’s Secret Domain`. An edgy avant-garde offering that seems more robust here than the original.
`The Weather The War` is a duet with Kid Congo Powers and taken from the `Philosophy and Underwear` album of twenty years ago by Kid Congo & The pink monkey birds. Kid Congo who has graced The Gun Club, The Cramps and Nick Cave`s The Bad Seeds laconically shares the lyrics in a spoken word style as Little Annie sings along with a kind of croak in her voice. A number about blaming the weather or the war for the couples skewed relationship rather than themselves. A delightfully compelling listen. Paul Wallfisch a long time collaborator who has also been a touring member of The Swans amongst others shares a couple of numbers with `Isle Of Weeping Ladies` and `The Soul Of August` from the `A Bar Too Far` album he released with Little Annie in 2020. The tracks enjoy a kind of jazz tinged late night stream of consciousness about them and conjured up for me smoke filled intimate basement venues. The former number is fairly stripped back while the latter is more robust with piano, drums and organ and shared in a jazz noir style.
`State Of Grace` has Baby Dee an American performance artist, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter join with American singer-songwriter and actor Joseph Will Oldham better known as Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Little Annie on a wonderfully intense journey. A song full of foreboding but with a deep sense of the belief of hope or optimism as well, first released nearly a decade ago. `Lefrak City Limit`s was originally released on the experimental band Larsen`s `La Fever Lit` album from 2008. The number has a drum beat at its heart guiding us along an abstract electronic experimental ambient vibe with Little Annie`s vocals floated atop. A delightfully hypnotic and mesmerising listen.
The final cut comes from the experimental rock band Swans album `To Be Kind` from around a decade ago with `Some Things We Do` an edgy duet with Michael Gira with some superb strings. The song lists basic actions that humans do that makes them appear meaningless and in vain.
`With` is an outstanding collection of collaborations from throughout this artist`s musical career and highlights the range, ability, and versatility of this artist`s vocal range. We enjoy songs in styles such as chanson, electronic, avant-garde, jazz noir, experimental, abstract, ambient that can be at times challenging but have an overwhelming sense of belief and faith. An artist who has an irresistible attraction that is potentially harmful or dangerous but enticing and captivating and will draw you towards her like a moth to a flame.
Rating 9/10
