With her beautiful voice and unconventional approach to contemporary folk, Anna Ling has released her debut album simply titled 'Light'. In fact all but one track includes the word light – in much the same way that Joni Mitchell would weave the word blue through her compositions.
With pert and memorable imagery, spanning the natural and spiritual worlds, ‘Light’ is the central metaphor that pulls the threads together to a tapestry of hope.
Anna is a Devon based singer-songwriter, composer and choir MD, self-producing mythopoetic alt-rock from her yurt near the River Dard. Blending layered harmonies with unusual rhythms, raw and emotionally resonant song writing that feels retrospective, but also primed for present times – the way the folk scene of the sixties resiliently held a mirror up to those changing times.
All ten tracks have their unique aspects and charm – but the last two – ‘Sun to the Bird’ and ‘Promise of Light’ were the two that shone brightest to me.
Originally crowd funded in 2022, ‘Light’ is a creative milestone for Anna Ling – her initiation into recording and producing. Now with the support of an Arts Council of England grant is developing BirdSong – a new collection of compositions from the perspective of birds.
Check out Anna Ling – a new voice for these times, on all the usual places.