THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...ANN MY GUARD – She Of The Sea And Stars (independent)THIS WEEK I’M LISTENING TO...ANN MY GUARD – She Of The Sea And Stars (independent)

Although it’s by no means unusual for an artist to strip down their songs and present them in a more acoustic form, few do it with the same élan as Eszter Anna Baumann, the driving force behind Ann My Guard. On ‘She Of The Sea And Stars’ she and her band revisit some of the material from their previous four albums (‘Innocence Descent’, ‘Ourania’, ‘Moira’ and Furia’) and, with the addition of a few new compositions, the result is pretty much the perfect collection of haunting, poignant yet beautifully otherworldly paeans which range from gothic to darkwave, and folk metal to dark pop.

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As a result of this elegant combination of ideas and delivery ‘She Of The Sea And Stars’ serves up an exquisitely varied assortment of material, but top of the pile for me comes ‘Echo’; originally from the 2018 ‘Moira’ album, there’s an ethereal magic to the reworking which lives on beyond the song’s poignant, closing refrain. Elsewhere, album opener ‘Ode To The Nereids’ – one of, I believe, the handful of new songs – is a powerful and emotionally-spirited force of nature while the melancholy of the following cut, ‘Dark Sea Blue’ (the sole representative of the band’s 2014 debut ‘Innocence Descent’), provides the perfect counterpoint.

In an interview with Ezster elsewhere here on JTo carried out back in 2015 the Hungarian-born but Dutch-based singer and multi-instrumentalist reflected on the wide range of influences in her musical journey, and she’s not afraid to bring these to the fore to create a broad palette of musical diversity. ‘She Of The Sea And Stars’ is a great album from a hugely talented artist, and if there’s any justice it will receive the wide and appreciate audience it deserves.

To pick up a copy, go to: https://store.dutchmusicworks.com/page/annmyguard-sotsas

‘Starseed’ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfEON3hrE0E
‘Echo’ (live) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERwiOFZOmq8
‘Hekate’ (live) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewUnl-nKLMU

© John Tucker March 2025