Annie Dressner - Coffee at the Corner Bar
by Helen Tipping
published: 14 / 2 / 2021

Label:
Annie Dressner
Format: CD
intro
Melancholic but also surprisingly upbeat third album from New York-born but now UK-based singer-songwriter Annie Dressner
Annie Dressner's third studio album, 'Coffee at the Cornershop', is a collection of melancholic, yet somehow upbeat songs about experiences of loss, love, and tragic death. Typical of this is 'Dogwood', which despite its joyful, cascading guitar, brought me to tears with its sad lyrics about loss and the representation of spirits by the creatures that share this world with us. Or 'Beyond the Leaves', a seemingly happy song about seeing someone by the riverside, but on deeper listening it could almost be the starting scene of the latest Scandinavian murder series. Is she seeing a real live person, or is it the victim of a murder surrounded by rose petals, their eyes staring into the unknown? 'Look What You're Doing To Us' deals with a different kind of loss, the loss of an idol, a reflection on those that have been found to have feet of clay, abusing their position of power to abuse those around them. It's still a loss and one that's affected many of us in the past few years as secrets come tumbling out about actors and musicians that we revered. This is an album that on a superficial listen is pretty and twinkling, but hides a darker underbelly, one of lost love, murder and death. Next year's tour is called the "Will This Actually Happen?" Tour, which belies a sense of humour during a difficult situation for all in the music business. I hope it does happen, along with the many other gigs that were supposed to be happening this year.
Track Listing:-
1 Nyack2 Dogwood
3 Midnight Bus
4 Beyond the Leaves
5 Secrets, Tell Me Lies
6 Pretend
7 Spotlight
8 The Book of Love
9 Quiet
10 Look What You're Doing to Us
11 Out in the Cold
12 Losing You
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