Anna Wolf is ready to claim her space as a complex, compelling, globally relevant artist with her new EP, ROMANCE WAS BORN.
The five-track release eludes easy classification, with the South African-born, London-based artist moving with conviction through music that is dramatic and orchestral (Dreaming Again), hushed and textured (Can I Get High on You?), visceral and kinetic (Heaven Breathes Out) and other-worldly and rhythmic (Vegas).
Available on all streaming platforms from 30 July 2021, ROMANCE WAS BORN includes first single, Gong, which was released earlier in 2021. Together with its accompanying video, the song earned critical acclaim for its moody, dark and unforgettable sound and visuals.
Indeed, it’s this combination of her singular music with different elements of artistic expression that ensures Wolf stands out; that enables her to inhabit the worlds of both conceptual art and pop, with her songs ready to transport listeners, fill the dancefloor and climb the charts.
“In so many ways my creativity starts from a visual impulse that then starts fluttering through the music,” says Wolf. “The songs on the EP contain imagery and stories that surfaced within me and found expression in, first my demos, and then with Matthew (Fink) who is truly like a wizard in the studio.”
Already the songs on ROMANCE WAS BORN have been earmarked for inclusion in a feature film which will simultaneously see Wolf taking on her first significant acting role.
The next single, CAN I GET HIGH ON YOU?has been transmuted into a video that is the most visually stimulating work Wolf has ever produced – its extraordinarily affecting visuals echoing the push and pull that is the signature of her song writing and acting as a shortcut into the intimate world that Wolf is creating and evolving.
The song was produced by Matthew Fink and tells the tale of a toxic relationship and how one’s mind can get webbed in patterns of thoughts. By using the perfect amount of movement through instrumentation, Anna explains that Matthew knew what this body of work would require.
In the music video, produced by South African director Christell de Wet (KLAK), we see Anna gasping for air and out of the murky water a swan appears to be born out of Anna’s mouth. The grace and white feathers of the swan represents new life, the change that death brings and the gratitude that one experiences when loss is felt.
Throughout her artistic incarnations – including the award-winning Tailor – Wolf has mined a thrilling visual and sensory world. It’s no surprise that her songs, among them Shaped Like A Gun and Wolf, have been the inspiration for choreographers on shows like So You Think You Can Dance (USA) and are utterly transporting when performed live by this accomplished musician.
Her song writing itself has earned Wolf international acclaim, including seeing her become the first South African to win Unsigned Only’s Grand Prize in 2019 for the song Believer. Wolf beat out almost 6 000 entries from more than 100 countries worldwide to be named the winner by a judging panel that included Garth Hudson (The Band), Taj Mahal, Aimee Mann, O.A.R., Sanctus Real, Bow Wow, Boney James, Ruthie Foster, and Robert Smith (The Cure).
Although constrained by pandemic times, Wolf is already eyeing a set of festivals and solo shows as the world opens up to live music again. Among these is Colours of Ostrava (Czechoslovakia, July 2022) and HOT VOX presents at Old Queens Head (London, 2 September 2021).
“I am excited about releasing this body of work into the world,” says Wolf. “It was made in a state of presence, with no expectations, and that helped me manifest the songs. But it was also created with real intention – and that is to create music that connects the dots for other humans.
I want my music to give artistic shape to all of our life’s journeys, which are not fixed. I aim to get to heart of the story, to seek the truth and to manifest authenticity and I am excited about people joining me on this journey – whether for the first time or with those who have been with me through its unfolding.”
ROMANCE WAS BORN is now available on all digital platforms. Download it here:
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/za/album/can-i-get-high-on-you/1574934613?i=1574934626
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/7qb19I6gvtqXj7SeVq2QGn?si=44oPkkjNS4ScrwtuNOMkYg
Anna Wolf is gereed om haar plek in te neem as ’n komplekse, aangrypende, wêreldbekende kunstenaar met haar nuwe kortspeelplaat, ROMANCE WAS BORN.
Hierdie vyfsnit-vrystelling is eie aan dié Suid-Afrikaner (wat nou in Londen woon) se styl. Dit bevat ’n treffende kombinasie musiek, wat wissel tussen dramaties en musikaal (Dreaming Again), sag en getekstureerd (Can I Get High on You?), emosioneel en energiek (Heaven Breathes Out), asook opgewek en ritmies (Vegas).
ROMANCE WAS BORN, wat vanaf 30 Julie 2021 aanlyn beskikbaar is, sluit haar gewilde treffer, Gong, in wat vroeër in 2021 uitgereik is. Beide die liedjie en musiekvideo is baie goed ontvang en word geprys vir die emosiebelaaide donker klank en onvergeetlike beeldmateriaal.
Dit is die kombinasie van haar unieke musiek en verskillende elemente van artistieke uitdrukking wat verseker dat Wolf relevant bly. Dit stel haar in staat om verskillende elemente van konseptuele kuns en pop weer te gee, luisteraars weg te voer met haar musiek, die dansvloer vol te maak en die trefferleer te klim.
“My kreatiwiteit begin baie keer met ’n visuele impuls wat deur musiek lewe kry,” sê Wolf. “Die snitte op my kortspeelplaat bevat beelde en stories wat eers tydens my eerste opnames na vore gekom het en daarna weer saam met Matthew Fink, wat ’n meester in die ateljee is.”
Die liedjies op ROMANCE WAS BORN is reeds gekies om ingesluit te word in ’n rolprent en gaan ook aan Wolf haar eerste ernstige rol as aktrise besorg.
CAN I GET HIGH ON YOU?, die volgende enkelsnit, is omskep in een van die beste visuele musiekvideo’s wat Wolf nog ooit vervaardig het – die merkwaardige beeldmateriaal gee lewe aan die kenmerkende vloei van haar musiek en voer jou weg na ’n intieme wêreld wat deur Wolf geskep is.
Die snit is vervaardig deur Matthew Fink and vertel die verhaal van ’n toksiese verhouding en hoe dit jou gedagtes beïnvloed. Deur gebruik te maak van die perfekte hoeveelheid beweging, met behulp van instrumente, het Matthew dit reggekry om presies vas te vang wat sy wou weergee met die liedjie.
In die musiekvideo, vervaardig deur die Suid-Afrikaanse regisseur Christell de Wet (KLAK), sien ons hoe Anna asem soek in ’n poel troebel water en ’n swaan word dan gebore in haar mond. Die wit vere van die swaan verteenwoordig nuwe lewe, die verandering wat die dood bring en die dankbaarheid wat ons soms ervaar nadat ons iets verloor het.
Regdeur haar loopbaan, wat die bekroonde liedjie Tailor insluit, het Wolf dit reggekry om op ’n opwindende manier die visuele en sintuiglike wêreld te ontgin. Dit is daarom nie vreemd dat liedjies, soos Shaped Like A Gun en Wolf, die inspirasie was vir choreograwe op programme soos So You Think You Can Dance (VSA) nie, of dat sy mense heeltemal wegvoer wanneer sy op die verhoog is nie.
As liedjieskrywer, het Wolf ook reeds wêreldwyd sukses behaal. Sy was die eerste Suid-Afrikaner om Unsigned Only se groot prys te wen met haar liedjie Believer. Tydens hierdie kompetisie, het Wolf het met 6 000 ander inskrywings, uit meer as 100 lande, meegeding en is sy as wenner gekies deur ’n paneel beoordelaars wat bestaan het uit Garth Hudson (The Band), Taj Mahal, Aimee Mann, O.A.R., Sanctus Real, Bow Wow, Boney James, Ruthie Foster, en Robert Smith (The Cure).
Alhoewel die pandemie steeds probleme veroorsaak, beplan Wolf reeds om deel te neem aan ’n paar feeste en solo-vertonings wanneer dit weer toegelaat word. Sy stel veral belang in Colours of Ostrava (Czechoslovakia, Julie 2022) en HOT VOX wat deur Old Queens Head (Londen, 2 September 2021) aangebied word.
“Ek is baie opgewonde om my kortspeelplaat met die wêreld te deel,” sê Wolf. “Dit is gemaak sonder veel verwagtinge en dit het my gehelp om regtig lewe te gee aan elke liedjie. Dit is egter met ’n doel geskep – om musiek te maak wat die groter prentjie vir die mensdom voltooi.
Ek wil hê dat my musiek artistieke vorm moet gee aan al ons lewensreise, wat nie vas is nie. Ek probeer om die hart van ’n storie te soek en die waarheid daaragter te openbaar, en ek is opgewonde dat mense saam met my op hierdie reis kan gaan – of dit nou vir die eerste keer is of saam met diegene wat reeds ’n pad saam met my gestap het.”
ROMANCE WAS BORN is nou beskikbaar op alle digitale platforms. Laai dit hier af:
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/za/album/can-i-get-high-on-you/1574934613?i=1574934626
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/7qb19I6gvtqXj7SeVq2QGn?si=44oPkkjNS4ScrwtuNOMkYg
