ANNA TERNHEIM -The Night Visitor- [Album] Release: 28.10.11 Universal

ANNA TERNHEIM “The Night Visitor” [Album]

Release: 28.10.11 Universal Music

Info: “The Night Visitor” has already been described as an album that tells stories. This is, of course, an accurate yet obvious designation when it comes to music with lyrics. However, if it were up to Anna, this designation would aptly apply to most recordings, even those without words.

Anna: “Even as a child, I was drawn to the harmonies and lyrics of old folk songs. I knew all the lyrics to ‘Scarborough Fair’ by heart when I was four years old. Matt played me ‘The Night Visiting Song’ by Luke Kelly, and I loved the piece immediately. It had exactly the same atmosphere, and we both thought it would be a good title for the album.”

Anna Ternheim insists that all stories also depend on the ear and eye of the recipient. That’s why she values leaving certain things deliberately unsaid, allowing space for interpretations between the airy layers. This does not mean that the songs are not full of vivid images, charmingly veiled in simplicity. In this respect, the song “Bow Your Head” may be the secret flagship example of the album. It is an urgent, epic homage to the beauty of nature, spending the day with a loved one, and being completely unaware of what the future may bring. In “Walking Aimlessly,” Ternheim just wants to drift, and she hopes that people, whenever they hear the song, will drift just as much and create their own safe harbor in the space. And then there are songs like the duet “The Longer The Waiting, The Sweeter The Kiss,” written by Pat McLaughlin, which Anna sang with Dave Ferguson, the studio owner, in heart-wrenching sincerity.

Dave Ferguson: “We were in the studio to really get to know each other when Matt Sweeney reminded me of this song. Matt Sweeney is one of the most prolific musicians in the world. I’ve been lucky to work with some pretty great people... I’m just a regular guy, but Matt is really great. So I sang the number while we were sitting there, and Anna liked it. She immediately started to sing along. It’s one of my absolute favorite pieces. And I love the recording we made of it! Now no one else needs to record it. Matt, Anna, and I decided to make Anna the skipper in the song. She’s a fantastic skipper! I can’t wait to work with her again. I shouldn’t even call it work...”

The album “The Night Visitor” is meant to be wonderful. It should also possess a certain cheekiness and radiate a live atmosphere more than all of Ternheim’s previous albums. The vocals were boldly recorded together with the guitars. Such chutzpah is displayed by very few musicians these days.

Anna: “I wanted to give this album an immediate and timeless quality. I wanted my voice to stand out and for the instruments to sound like instruments. It was absolutely amazing to work with Ferg, Matt, and all the musicians. The sound was in the studio walls, in the fingers and brains of these people. Kenny Malone is the first drummer who asked me for the lyrics before he played a song because it made it easier for him to grasp the ‘heartbeat and deeper meaning’ of a piece.”

Anna Ternheim’s fourth album illustrates in a way the essence of her being: she is an old soul with a fearless, almost childlike desire for the unexplored. She sings like an earthly angel about defeats and victories, acquaintances and companions, life and death.

“Every once in a while, someone appears who has a lot of talent, know-how, and wonderful songwriting abilities, but is also open to the ideas of others, both good and bad. So open that they venture into the unknown. You go into the studio, set up the microphones, turn them on, and WOW. Something wonderful comes out of the speakers. Like from a songbird, from a wonderful songbird. She will always be welcome in Nashville. Cowboy Jack Clement found her fantastic. And he is NEVER wrong.” (Dave Ferguson, sound engineer & duet partner)

Some of Anna’s key musicians and partners on this album: Matt Sweeney, producer/guitarist (worked with Rick Rubin, Johnny Cash, Cat Power, Billy Corgan, Bonnie ”Prince Billy,” and the Dixie Chicks), Dave Ferguson (“Ferg”), sound engineer/duet partner/studio owner/musician (worked extensively with Johnny Cash, produced tracks for U2’s “Rattle And Hum” album, and also appeared in the documentary of the same name), Will Oldham, backing vocals (also known by the stage name Bonnie ”Prince” Billy), Cowboy Jack Clement, resonator guitar (80-year-old legend who discovered Jerry Lee Lewis, worked as a producer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records, and also produced tracks/albums with U2, Townes Van Zandt, and Waylon Jennings), Tim O’Brien (violin), Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), and many more.

Web:

www.annaternheim.de