The strings on the opener »The Age Of Innocence« call to mind Kate Bush’s opus magnum of a dream journey. In truth, one would be doing Ana Roxanne a great injustice by drawing one-dimensional comparisons. On Poem 1, countless admirable facets of heavy moods gather. »Berceuse in A-Flat Minor, Op. 45« – in English, »lullaby« – is a velvet, sustained piano piece in which Roxanne’s bell-clear voice offers exactly the sense of shelter one sought as a child between the sheets.
On »Keepsake«, Roxanne mourns an unreachable person, addressing a fear of loss that she tries to counter with a keepsake. After three songs at the latest, it is clear: this album takes on life’s heavy subjects, from the perspective of an intersex person, no less. Ana Roxanne does so with touching seriousness, with the gravitas that true beauty requires.
The instrumental piece »X«, placed fourth, evokes associations with Japanese environmental music: a constant hum with meticulously placed sequences of notes – a little time for what has been heard to take effect. On »Untitled II«, Roxanne sings over gently brushed jazz drumming; later, strings connect either to East Asian or folk traditions, bringing to mind Helena Deland’s recent great achievements in this field, or even Portishead. »One Shall Sleep« opens another register: over an opulent bed of strings, Roxanne shows the beauty of the world: »Everywhere lies heaven’s wondrous blue.« One could not wake more moved.
Poem 1
