Genre-defying musician Ana Egge drops her 11th album – and it’s a beauty
BY SOPHIE GRIFFITHS, IMAGE BY SHERVIN LAINEZ
Ana Egge is set to release her 11th album, Is It The Kiss, on the 6 September 2019. A new set of original songs, the album is filled with her usual honesty and sensitivity, mixing elements of country and soul together to showcase the brilliance of her mind and heart.
The brand new album amply displays her singularly soulful singing and songwriting, according to Steve Earle sounding, “like she’s telling us her deepest, darkest secrets.”
“I wrote these songs in a bit of a fever,” says Ana. “They came into being all in a rush. My wife and I have a five-year-old daughter and in many of the demos I made while writing these songs, you can hear her and her friend running through the hallway, playing with their dolls.”
“There’s been a change in me in the past two years. And in many people I know. There’s an uneasiness and a deeper need for connection. I’ve also felt the shift in my audience. People are listening like they never have before. I too, am listening like I never have before. That’s where these songs come from.”
Throughout 11 albums, Ana has poured her vast life experience into every song. She grew up believing she was always an outsider:
“I ran around barefoot and learned to ride a motorcycle when I was five. I grew up with all the time and space in the world.”
She knew her life was hers to create and, as a teenager, she built her own guitar and took a risk by moving to Austin, Texas, so she could observe the musicians and absorb their knowledge. It didn’t take long for her to get noticed and she recorded her first ever album in 1997.
She’s swapped the Great Plains for Brooklyn, where she now lives with her wife, Amy, and their five-year old daughter. Despite this huge life change, her music demonstrates how she has not lost her connection with the free-spirited childhood and the landscape that formed her.
She is inspired by the warm but intense sound of Etta James and Ann Peebles and draws on the authenticity of Dolly Parton.
Make sure you check out Is It The Kiss when it drops this Friday – we can’t wait. Want more? Visit anaegge.com of follow @anaegge
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