Say Anise – Say What You Want (2021)
Terrible breakups can leave you feeling open in a way that you might generally avoid. This openness is what led Say Anise to create her EP Say What You Want. While each track on the EP touches on a different topic, they all contain an honesty and openness that helps the emotions of the tracks hit a little harder.
Through the EP, Say Anise reflects on the world we live in and questions everything around us. While the tracks are largely unconnected, there is a deeply personal thread that runs through all of them. This comes, not only from the personal basis of the music but the fact that she had a hand on every level of creation of the EP.
The EP opens with ‘Morning Song’ which was the first song written for the EP. The gentle guitar line has a light musing feeling to it wrapped around the first rays of light in the morning. The vocals have a great folky feeling to them that enhances the daybreak of the melody. The lyrics are packed with early morning observations that take a deeper turn as the song progresses. The light drums that come in add depth to the musing of the music as the song takes on a wider feeling of looking at the world in general.
‘I Remember’ takes a more melancholic turn as it dips into heartbreak. The vocals have a light feeling of disbelief over the hurt that someone you love can cause. This has been wonderfully wrapped around a gentle cry of the guitar. This turns into a feeling of abandonment and sorrow over the person you used to be with moving on. Woven into the latter parts of the track is an understanding of what has happened and the feeling that it might have been coming.
The guitar line of ‘A Tale of a Faraway Land’ has a bardic feeling to it as you are drawn into the story of the lyrics. Say Anise’s vocals continue the bardic flow of the music. Through her performance, you can imagine the island of the lyrics and the song that plays constantly. There is a really great feeling to this song and you can imagine it being played in a pub with a close intimate setting. The rise and fall of the track adds a gentle lilt to the music that you want to sway with.
The EP comes to an end with ‘Sometimes’ which is probably the most personal on the EP. This can be felt through the vulnerable and honest vocal performance that dips into feelings of anxiety. The stripped-back melody has a wonderful simplicity that increases the intimacy of the track. Through the song, it is like Say Anise is taking the feelings you can’t put into words and weaving them into a beauty single. The rising tones of her vocals hit just the right note that complements the deeper moments of the track.
Say Anise uses four very different tracks to touch on a range of topics with a stunning vulnerability and openness in Say What You Want. The EP has you reflecting on the world, touches your heart with sorrow, sends you to a faraway island before drawing out your inner feelings. The soft and gentle sounds of the EP ease you into each experience but leave you with a lightened sense by the end of it.
Find out more about Say Anise on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
