EP Spotlight: Anna Lunoe – All Out EP
After enduring months of teasers and promos, Anna Lunoe’s All Out EP is finally all out. Fresh, smooth and sophisticated, it’s a standout in a male-dominated industry that seems to be saturated with uninspired, dull content. Anna is an innovator, citing inspiration from “Sheila E, DJ Spindarella, Kim Deal, Frente, Teena Marie . . . and all other innovative babes.” And this EP is a welcome breath of fresh air, boasting four unique and intricate tracks with a powerful and unabashed feminine edge.
Beginning in Australia as an underground dance radio host and DJ, Anna’s first cross-genre productions drew on a blend of influences ranging from Jackmaster and Outkast to Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, while her live shows were equally as diverse. Gaining popularity, she became the first woman to mix compilations for Ministry of Sound, and has been blowing a majority of dance producers out of the water since her release of Real Talk on Future Classic in 2012 (a collaboration with Touch Sensitive and Flume).
Real Talk launched her into the spotlight, and Breathe kept her there. By this time (2013), Anna had signed a deal with electronic music monolith Ultra Records and moved to Los Angeles. Breathe, now a Lunoe essential, was quickly followed by a remix compilation, featuring names like Danny T, Wordlife, and Cosmo’s Midnight. It was obvious that her name was gaining serious recognition, and her sound was here to stay.
And now, a year later, she does it all over again. All Out is pure Anna Lunoe as I know her–detailed, diverse, sexy, sophisticated . . . she pulls out all stops on this one and executes extremely well. Each track captures an individual style and reflects Anna’s broad range of influences. And with that said, we can get right to them.
Track-by-track:
All Out: The release of this title track at the beginning of the summer started a long period of excitement and anticipation. Inevitably, a huge influx of remixes followed the initial release. The original is clean, dark, and grooving, and Anna’s matter-of-fact vocals command the song so well. If you hadn’t heard it before, you’ll be humming that chorus nonstop for the next week or two, trust me. It’s a fantastic introduction to the EP, but as the song closes and the echoes of Anna’s voice fade from the final refrain, we’re smoothly pushed forward by a perfect club-ready transition into track #2, Satisfaction.
Satisfaction: The sexiest song from the EP. We begin with a driving muffled bassline, the kind that seems to push it’s way through the walls and floor, the pulsing house party downstairs just barely contained. Growing louder as Anna slowly opens the filter, edgy syncopated jabs start piercing the room. Her voice cuts through in harmony, laying over vibrating keys. The kick grows stronger along with an oscillating riser, and at the moment we reach the hook, we’re stuck in. Anna has an amazing ear for transitions, and the best thing about this song is her level of artistic detail. You’ve heard hundreds of deep house cuts that all sound the same–they have their catchy bass hook, drop it twice and that’s all there is. But Satisfaction evolves as you listen. Instead of copy/pasting her material, Anna crafts an entirely new second hook with an acid bassline and thick minor chord stabs to carry us through the end . . . Intelligent, not formulaic.
Heartbreak In Motion (ft. Jesse Boykins III): The contrast between Jesse’s smooth soulful vocal refrain and that icy, percussive synth line makes this track extremely dynamic. Anna’s subtle vocal harmonies paint the background well, but my favorite texture has to be those deep bass glides before the first hook drop.
Say It Again: A notably bright finish to the EP in comparison with the other three tracks. Lunoe’s vocal glitches jump around a bouncy organ loop driven forward by a rave-classic beat reminiscent of early Daft Punk. Again, the song seems to grow organically, never repeating an idea in full. Though not necessarily as memorable as others, a nevertheless solid conclusion to Anna’s latest collection, full of texture and Lunoe style.
All Out proves, yet again, that Anna Lunoe is an innovator. Not only as a DJ, producer, and performer, but as an artist. Reaching #5 on the iTunes dance albums chart soon after its release last week, this diverse collection of styles proves that she’s becoming something of an icon in the dance world, bashing stereotypes and injecting a much-needed dose of creativity into the industry. You see, having more female producers doesn’t just establish a more balanced ratio, it brings in entirely new sources of ideas and different artistic perspectives to the industry, to the stage, and to your ears–it means more creativity, more innovation, and ultimately more awesome music. And I’m really glad that we have artists like Anna Lunoe to look forward to when we slip our headphones on or head out for the night . . . artists who are bringing new things to the table, artists who really are going all out.
Get the record, and check out Anna Lunoe here.
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