Canadian Record Label Illium Audio signed Ann Taylor in 2017. A singer-songwriter living in Calgary, Ann fell in love with songwriting, propelling her towards the release of her first EP “Roses” in February 2016. She is a versatile artist who has explored genres as diverse as folk, pop and electronic music, and is able to blend them together to form unique and playful new sounds. In addition to her solo work, Ann is a member of musical collective “Plus”. Set to release a full length album in 2018, she is currently working on an EP, and has released the single, “Sober”. This is the kind of song where everyone pulls out their lighters (or cell phones) to wave in the air for three minutes.
“Sober” is an anthem that is so calm and haunting it could put you into a trance. Combating addiction with a steady, subtle drum line and use of a shimmering guitar strum, this song will leave you feeling both comforted and lost at the same time. “I feel so cold with your arms around me, your gravity’s weighing me down.” This line stretches your mind to the vast universe of difficulties that surround us, and her following lines, “Your slowly drifting, you cut me out, There’s too many walls to break through and feel sober,” will make you feel absolutely minuscule in that universe of difficulties.
Ann Taylor knows how to create a saddened but hopeful atmosphere through a catchy, but elegant pop song. The track flows perfectly, making it feel as if the melancholy is constantly brimming to the tip, but quite ready to disappear; she knows how to make you feel hopeful for her – maybe feeling hopeful for yourself. Ann finds her own sound with “Sober”.
And it is such a good sound for pop music that you may think that you have heard it before. The track contains well constructed lyrics that actually hold pop similarities, but which in the end, make an interesting contrast to many other pop artists who will often write sub-par lyrics, in exchange for a catchy hook. However, make no mistake about it; there are plenty of subtle hooks in this song.
It’s quite obvious that Ann Taylor is likeable. She isn’t like those huge pop stars that no one can identify with. She’s akin to the girl around the corner from you, the one whom you always knew played music, and is now trying to make it big.
There’s an underdog kind of factor that runs through “Sober”, and in Ann’s voice, that is totally endearing. She really proves to be the thinking person’s singer-songwriter. In a song about the desperate need for inner strength, she comes across as vulnerable yet bold and aware.
Her dynamic vocal control and appropriateness of inflection to lyric interpretation is on a whole different level than most of popular singing of today. Ann Taylor’s songwriting, her musicianship and her so-expressive voice will get you every time.
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