Anna Burch
Quit the Curse
Release Date: Feb 2, 2018
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Polyvinyl
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Album Review: Quit the Curse by Anna Burch
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Previously known for participating in folk-rock group Frontier Ruckus and co-leading indie pop quartet Failed Flowers, Michigan-based songwriter Anna Burch steps out into the spotlight with her excellent full-length solo debut, Quit the Curse. Several of these songs had previously appeared on limited cassettes, including a split EP with Stef Chura, but here they're given fresh, hi-fi studio production. Burch's voice was somewhat obscured in her previous bands, but here her vocals are resoundingly clear, and her lyrics are sharp and direct, sometimes to a startling degree.
Based on rating 3.6/5
the one that's more shadow than sun Shy, introverted, kinda lonely Anna Burch tries to compensate with this one. Quit the Curse is suffused with a frankness present only to communicate the thoughts otherwise obstructed by notions of social acceptability and the like. "I like you best when you're a mess"" you just can't say that to people, Anna. I'm stood at the foot of a really peculiar crossroads here: the record is boring, in a sense -- as lazy and ambling as the hours that make a Sunday afternoon; and yet -- and yet -- there's an undeniable charm to the way Anna finds comfort in her own lazy compositions.
Based on rating 7/10
Anna Burch's Quit the Curse is like thumbing through a stack of Polaroid pictures. The Detroit singer-songwriter presents her feelings and noteworthy moments in precise snapshots: there's a hotel room in a drug haze, an unimpressed smirk and freckled skin from a sun-soaked day on "Belle Isle" — a blissful album highlight. The reflectiveness, and vulnerability, of Burch's friendly songwriting makes it easy to relate to her feelings of nascent love and to her fumbles. Burch relies on light pop melodies and mellow psychedelia to amplify the bummer tones and love sickness in her songs.
Based on rating 6.8/10
The indie-pop musician Anna Burch was born for the spotlight; it just took several attempts to get there. After singing in the folk-rock band Frontier Ruckus, co-fronting the indie-rock act Failed Flowers, and joining other Michigan projects in her spare time, the Detroit singer-songwriter makes her solo debut with Quit the Curse, a record of wry one-liners and moody indie pop. Every track on the record is marked by fuzzy guitar hooks and 1960s-flavored girl-group harmonies--a bold step forward from her folk background.
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