Stolen Hill

Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
EAN: 5050467820425
ASIN: B000AQAD42

Release Date: 2005-08-23

Stolen Hill

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Album Description

Stolen Hill is the eagerly awaited follow up to Anika Moa's highly acclaimed debut album Thinking Room, which was written over a 2 and a half year period while Anika finished touring for the Thinking Room album and traveling the world. She considers this album to be more mature, addressing political and personal issues in more depth than her debut album. Recorded in a barn at Bethalls Beach, on the West Coast of Auckland, and produced by Ed Cake (former song writing partner of Geoff maddock-Goldenhorse), Stolen hill was mixed by Victor Van Vogt in NYC (producer of Thinking Room) who has also produced the new Athlete album and other albums for Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and Beth Orton to name a few. Stolen Hill is simply what it is, an album of honesty and realness imbued with a deep sense of self. 12 total tracks. 2005.

Customer Reviews:

Bizarre in comparison........2005-11-11

So here comes Anika Moa with her second release. It took a while to get here as she tends to only release in her native New Zealand, but when it got here, I was excited to say the least. But I was slightly disappointed when I heard it, because it really isn't up to the fantastic standard that Anika set with her first album, "Thinking Room". While her debut has catchy melodies with plenty of disturbing lyrics and a couple of nice poppy numbers thrown in for a nice little mixture, this album is much more rock and jazz oriented, which is an odd mixtures by anyone's standards. Throw in a couple of slower tracks and an two tracks sung in Maori, and you have something truly unique.

Sadly, you can't hear her lyrics as clearly in this album is the music tends to be less sparse, but with thicker, more luxurious melodies, this album is much more a musical than a lyrical triumph. Although Anika has clearly gone out to please herself rather than her buying public with this album, it isn't self indulgent at all. In fact, it's apologetic at times with tracks such as "Wrestled With Your Angels", a slower pop track with rather sad, lilting lyrics. The jazz influences here are best seen in the tracks "Society", and particularly in "Lies In This Land", a song which seems to be about her home land. Although it's highly unusual and not something I would have expected from Miss Moa, it's giving the album a good feel and a more rounded body than her first album which, although brilliant, was a little samey at times.

Highlights of the album here are the more recognisable Anika Moa tracks, "In The Morning", and "Papercuts", which both hold a sad tune with beautiful lyrics and a much more likely to please fans of her debut. The title track, "Stolen Hill" is by far the best song on this album, and is similar to the epic "My Son" on her last album, with a great rock feel and some incredible vocal movement. It's really a triumph, and it's just a shame that some of the weaker tracks on this album, such as "Loving You", don't follow this fantastic formula.

Standing out purely for it's absurdity among the rest of the tracks on this album is "Broken Man". While Anika's previous release kept a similar mood throughout the album (rather sultry, with some wry smile moments here and there), this song just breaks the depressed mood induced by the fantastic "Stolen Hill" is quickly forgotten when you're clapping along to "Broken Man", which is a quick, chirpy little number which seperates the two halves of the album nicely. The only other track worthy of discussion is "Annie Goes To Sleep", another epic track for this album and one of the many reasons this album is worth buying. A very downbeat track that keep a slow tempo until the chorus, this song should be applauded simply for its unusual musical techniques. Earthy and raw, becoming sentient and piano-based during the choruses, this song stands out as one of the best on the album.

Sadly, "Picture Me In The 70's" is standard fare for the modern folk album. A little bit fluffy, really the cotton wool filler of this album, and worth skipping. The opening and closing track are predominantly vocal tracks with little in the way of the dense melody you come to expect with this album, and while they may seem ineffectual alone, they surround the album nicely and really do tell you what Anika wanted to say - this album is about her, her heritage, and her home.

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