release date: Mar. 12, 2008
format: digital (16 x File, MP3, France)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,68]
producer: Valgeir Sigurðsson
label: DetErMine Records - nationality: Norway
Track highlights: 1. "The Treehouse Song" - 2. "The Fall" - 3. "The Puzzle" - 4. "My Star" - 6. "Changing of the Seasons" - 7. "Lullaby for Grown-Ups" - 9. "Armour" (live) - 10. "Round Table Conference" - 12. "Don't Leave" - *14. "True Colors" (live)
*Bonus track
4th studio album by Ane Brun released three years after A Temporary Dive (Feb. 2005). Brun has however most recently released Duets (Nov. 2005) but that album isn't a traditional studio album, nor does it contain Brun's own songs.
Stylistically, it's the continuation of the more introspective songs, and sonically there is a movement towards more orchestrated compositions with the use of strings and more traditional backing such as bass and percussion, which previously wasn't how she would typically arrange her songs. In this way, the album places itself more clearly in a traditional singer / songwriter / folk music tradition lending from country, but you will also note a move towards more experimental music with synths or piano with a touch of art pop. Some songs are cut in a traditional style, some point in the direction of the minimalist style of A Temporary Dive, and then there are songs that probably carry some of the qualities from Brun's collaborations of her Duets album. Still, it's far from another collection of songs pointing in all possible directions, as Brun makes sure to keep a clear course - and especially: a melancholic mood that lays like a duvet over another nice outing with a new inspiring touch.
The album has been issued in various editions. The standard Scandinavian and European version comes with thirteen tracks and a total playing length of approx. 46 minutes. An edition for the UK market has an additional two covers as bonus tracks, an American version comes with a single bonus track, and the French CD edition was released with three bonus tracks and with a total running time of 56 minutes.
Changing of the Seasons is another beautiful album from one of Norway's most exciting artists. Brun sings with great finesse and with an even clearer character - and where her singing voice previously had an unmistakable Joni Mitchell touch, she is now completely her own with small, insignificant lendings from Dolly Parton and Kate Bush. My only tiny 'complaint' is its dark melancholy, which ultimately comes to characterise the overall experience of a otherwise beautifully cut album.
Recommended.
