By Sean Jewell
Whooo! We got a hot one comin’ in via brilliant songwriter Ana Egge backed by Danish indie folk band The Sentimentals. They’ve cut a whole album together called Say That Now, which I’m super excited about. It opens with “Take Off My Dress” a wailing heartbreaker of a jam full of moanin electric guitar, rock hard riffs, a completely unexpected direction from Egge that blew my hat off on first listen.
Say That Now is a collaborative effort with The Sentimentals adding plenty of rock & roll effect to the rolling hills folk sound Egge makes so well. Even with the amps turned down low, the compressed, reverberating effect of guitars, harmonica and harmonium to accompany Anna Egge’s mountain music vocals pushes her into a variety of ranges and styles. What’s more is this collaboration is trans-Atlantic, recorded in Copenhagen with a full band. On Say That Now Egge continues her tradition of using song to bravely face world events from terrorism on “He’s A Killer Now”, to police brutality and Black Lives Matter protests on “Away We Go Again”, to owning one’s sexual identity on “Take Off My Dress”, “Promises To Break”.
Ana Egge & The Sentimentals wield powerful femininity, the righteousness of rock & roll, and prairie-folk-music storytelling to make Say That Now, branching out with roots music to push talents and tell tales that listeners worldwide will relate to.