Saint-Étienne

Aneessa shows exploratory vigor and versatility on her latest single “Saint-Etienne”. Her vocals seem attuned to notes between notes and develops her own sound with a firmer foundation, hewing closer to the uplifting melody. Unlike anything anyone has heard before, the singer creates a meaningful connection with her music, occasionally aligning her smooth subtle tone with a satisfying frequency. But Aneessa pens a deep heartfelt tune, enough to make your soul bleed but soothing enough to forget the pain. She finds herself letting go of a place that’s filled with sad memories and sets herself free. She embraces every emotion, creating tension by working against a slow-paced rhythm, and giving the audience pieces of her story in a way that no one else can. And the first thing she does is be totally honest with herself and deciding where she wants to be and what she wants to do. With a heavy heart ready to burst, Aneessa makes herself vulnerable on “Saint-Etienne”, a song that overflows with transcendence, harmony, and grief. She lays bare her emotions for everyone to see, letting herself free from her burden and embracing a new beginning. It’s a record that’s much about the soul as it is about the skilled orchestration. You are taken across uncharted territory in jazz composition, drawing from multiple cultures and diverse instruments. A set of recurring melodic shapes ebb and flow from beginning to end, with everything ambitiously proportioned to fit into the narrative with ease. Compelling and emotionally gripping, Aneessa employs music that is alternately challenging, somber, austerely abstracted, classically beautiful, and wracked with tension to guide our imaginations through the momentous chain of a heart-wrenching story.