By any rights, Anna Fox Rochinski should be as big as Haim. Like that band, she's influenced by Seventies AOR. But, unlike those musicians, Anna's solo debut reveals not only an easygoing charm, but also flashes of risks taken that suggest artists like Jane Siberry and Laurie Anderson. Cherry, out on Friday via Don Giovanni Records is, whatever genre you shove this into, one of this season's most listenable records.
From the electro-pop flourishes that buttress the hooks in the title cut, to the wonderfully direct "Party Lines", with its slap-bass, the solo cuts here from Anna Fox Rochinski are just remarkably easy to absorb and enjoy. "The Return" and "High Board" lean heavily into the electronica, without sacrificing any warmth in the music around Anna's emphatic vocal-lines, while the starker "Everybody's Down" is pop, the sound of indie embracing and re-shaping Nineties tropes into something fresh and modern all over again.
If bits and pieces of this suggest something like Suzanne Vega's more mainstream moments, Rochinski thankfully doesn't let the production or trappings around her voice overshadow the simple melodies. This is a sharp record, and one with a directness running through the whole set of heartfelt performances. And while much of Cherry is so catchy as to suggest those comparisons above to radio-friendly acts, the elegant "No One Love" is the peak here. This one, the album closer, is the sound of release, a mid-tempo declaration of emotional independence, and a helluva catchy tune. On an album so stuffed with pleasures for a listener, it's a standout and a manifesto of sorts.
Cherry is out on Friday via Don Giovanni Records.
[Photo: Daniel Dorsa]