Album Review: Anjulie by Anjulie

Listen to any one track on Guyanese-Canadian singer/songwriter Anjulie's self-titled debut, and it appears easy to pigeonhole her, to call her the next artist "X. " The only problem with that lazy categorization is that, on song after song, that "artist X" changes. Opening track and single "Boom" conjures up aughts genre-benders like Santigold; the song's a sultry masala of miscellaneous styles, throwing dark bossa nova, Morricone-esque flourishes, Bond themes, acid jazz, and an insanely catchy half-scat hook all into one boiling-over (and madly sexy) musical pot.

Full Review >>

It doesn’t take a press release to know that Anjulie is a sister in song to Nelly Furtado and Corinne Bailey Rae. Within the first few notes of “Boom”, the opening track on her eponymous debut, Anjulie becomes the latest nasal-charged vocalist to enter the fray. Whatever uniqueness listeners derived from Furtado or Bailey Rae unfortunately amounts to imitation here.

Full Review >>

ANJULIE (Hear Music) As Santigold rip-offs go, “Boom,” the debut single by Anjulie, is among the cleverest. Apart from the drums, all the other instruments — the flatulent junkyard brass, the bone-dry Morricone guitars — are obfuscated, floating through haze. On top Anjulie coos coyly about giving in when really she should know better. And the faintly Caribbean chorus — “Boom, sha-la-ka” — echoes a skipping heartbeat, a theme woven into the song’s lyrics.

Full Review >>