Anna Rose Menken is a New York City based singer-songwriter with an edge. She knows how and when to mine rock and roll and R&B. She has a sweet, strong voice, and she aims for the heart with her words. From there, it is just a matter of reaching into her bag of tricks for the right genre elements, which she finds in each song.
Her voice is influenced more by Heart and Pat Benatar then Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. She pushes the song forward with an aggressive energy that says “let’s rock and roll.“ Yet, her songwriting craft is largely influenced by the singer-songwriters of the 1970s. She can see past the surface of human interaction straight into all the colors painted by the human heart. Menken could be equally enjoyed in a coffee house listening room or in a large concert hall. She bridges those two worlds that always clashed when the female in a relationship was in the mood for Jewel and the male opted for classic rock.
On “Whispers” Menken utilizes a subtle R&B groove to mobilize her vocal and acoustic guitar over its palpable beat. From that launching pad she let’s her vocal sail with plenty of wind. Her vocal timbre is distinct and unique without being out of the mainstream. Her lyric “whispers are the loudest voice you know” speaks to the heart as you get she’s singing about the stunned silence of breathlessness at moments of personal loss.
Her song “Picture” is an assertively slow boil. The tension mounts over her edgy guitarists’s muscular chords and lead guitar arc. Menken has the vocal chops to handle this intensity, making her sweet voice fit the rugged band in those spaces found by true artists. “Four Corners” is a mix of FM rock and roll from the 1970s with a singer-songwriter perspective. She has a way of pausing between her verses here that tastefully, respectfully let’s each breathe before moving solidly into the next. Menken even erases her rasp and replaces it with a smoother unique edginess.
“I’ll Be Gone” is two-step country blues shuffle that allows Menken to showcase her rootsie raspy timbre, and she executes this vocal take with complete mastery of dynamics. Electric and slide guitar are extra heaps of gravy over the potatoes, but Rose’s rangy voice is the essence of it all. “Dare” takes a stab into the acoustic-electric guitar duality. Menken creates a moving flatbed truck of sound with her acoustic while her guitarist unleashes piercing notes from his six-string. Menken’s voice moves around on the top of this with a mellow grace, and again, it’s her vocal color that calls the shots, runs the show.
This singer-songwriter takes extra care to tweak each song with just a dash of whatever it needs. “Overtone” ingratiates itself with an exquisite guitar line, and Menken applies her more subtle side to the microphone, gliding up the sounds cape on her assertive chorus. “Walk Away” is another mid tempo ballad, yet here Menken does it more sweetly. She adds a little extra something to the chorus, like someone going back to dot their I’s and cross their T’s, sprinkling another sweet note with the affection of one last parting kiss.
On “All I Have To Say” Menken showcases the thickness in her timbre. Her voice on this one seems to widen itself to allow for the proper emotional context. She sounds beautiful singing over a Hammond organ, her voice and the organ two feisty instruments backing and complimenting each other. “Gillian” is a slowed down ballad that shows off Menken’s sweet, soulful belt. When she unleashed that voice, and, with her heart laid bare open, she makes you feel a double impact. Her guitarist gets ecstatic beside the vocal, and this song becomes larger than life.
“Wilshire” makes for another opportunity for Menken to belt along to a beautiful melody. She is likely a force of nature in the live concert setting. Her voice sounds like it could erupt with beauty if she was left in a wide open space with thousands of people looking on. She closes out with “You Got It For Free,” another of her sweet ballads enhanced with her sonic ranginess, accompanied ever so tastefully by a jovial banjo and slide guitar. Her backing musicians on Nomad are simply amazing. Adam Stoler on guitars, Tyler McDiarmid on guitars, Jamie Bishop on bass, Jordon Perlson on drums, Arlen Roth on guitars, and Leon Pendarvis on keyboards.
Anna Rose Menken is a singer-songwriter off to a promising start. The Door’s producer/engineer Bruce Botnick is this outings executive producer. With songs this gripping and a voice so enticing, she shall become a huge draw and will always impress each and every fan. She is that good.
www.annarosemusic.com
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