ANNA ATKINSON plays Saturday (December 15) at Broadview Espresso, and December 28 at the Tranzac. See listing. Rating: NNN
Local multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Anna Atkinson is both playful and reflective on her promising Aporia debut. She’s a classically trained violist as well as an actor, and both influences come through in her chamber-folk-pop arrangements and cabaret flair. The first song and title track opens sparsely with banjo and Atkinson’s conversational voice before she jumps into her full soprano when the strings come in.
Atkinson’s a strong singer, but the album’s intimate, Joni Mitchell-like moments and sonic experiments – the atmospheric crashes and booms on Only A Fiddle, the electro-folk bloops and bleeps on Careful, My Dear – stick out from the rest of the offerings. For the best first impression, start with Lucybelle, an invitation to cheer up, perform and flirt to get over the blues.
Top track: Lucybelle
