MIA SHEARD -
Anemone
2002
C.G. - bass on all tracks
Mixed by DAVID TRAVERS-SMITH
reviews
"Mia Sheard's music...seems to float in a state of suspended animation. With the acception of 'A Body Needs', held upright by a backbone of electric guitar, and 'Catherine Wheel', with its building emotional urgency, Sheard's third album...is a largely ethereal affair that aims to captivate rather than compel. "Love Your Anemones," which features multi-instrumentalist Kurt Swinghammer on "u-boat," and the Oz-inspired "Monkeys," buoyed by Ryan Granville-Martin's impressionistic piano touch, are among the more successfully seductive offerings here."
Vit Wagner, The Toronto Star
"Freaks exist when people believe in the rightness of the ordinary. Mia Sheard is an agnostic on that point, which puts her in strong sympathy with all those who have felt freakish in the presence of ordinary situations. Since that's just about everybody, Sheard's newest disc should have a wide audience... Several of these songs are about death or departure of love...Through it all, Sheard finds the words and the tunes with her custumary skill."
Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail
"Usually when someone gets compared to artists you know are completely unique - Jane Siberry, say, or Mary Margaret O'Hara - it's the fast track to disappointment. Not so in Mia Sheard's case. Sporting the most unusual voice this side of Kate Bush, Toronto's Sheard kicks serious musical ass with this, her third offering (following up 2000's Reptilian). Shininigly strange but undeniably compelling, Sheard is no shrinking violet murmuring soft refrains behind a keyboard. "Anemone" features some hard-rocking guitar action that made me think she'd be voted most likely to fill in for Freddy Mercury if Queen ever had a reunion tour. "Sexy" and "Piercing" are the two words that kept coming to mind when listening to this, one of the most singular albums I've heard in ages; my only complaint is that "Anemone" only features nine tracks."
John Threlfall, Monday Magazine
"The world needs more evocation albums and
Mia Sheard is happy to oblige. With Anemone, Sheard creates soft ballads that build into slow catharsis with just enough pop to make them accessible...Her voice is powerful and flawless...[Anemone] feels like that moment between asleep and awake, disoriented in quiet requiems."
Rachel Stone, Uptown
"Mia Sheard refuses to follow the trend of pre-packaged female pop singers being churned out by the minute. Instead, Sheard chooses to follow her own formula - soulful acoustic melodies with meaningful lyrics.... Recorded with all original material...Anemone provides a much needed break from recycled mainstream beats."
Robert Wong, The Gazette
