Ane Brun – Portrayals (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Ane Brun – Portrayals (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 40:45 minutes | 405 MB | Genre: Folk, Indie Pop, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Universal Music AB

Two decades into her career, Norway’s Ane Brun has come a long way from busking other people’s songs on the streets of Barcelona. And yet, in some respects, not that far after all. Now a much-loved singer-songwriter in her own right, with ten studio albums and multiple awards to her name, Brun continues to lend her singularly expressive voice and intuitive feel for melody to the fine art of the cover version.

In Brun’s hands, even songs that feel untouchable are brought close and revealed in a new and intimate light. Whether reimagining Beyoncé’s all-conquering ‘Halo’ with a cello quartet arrangement by Linnea Olsson, or bringing a ghostly fragility to Radiohead’s ‘How To Disappear Completely’, she dives in undaunted, seeking out the emotional core of each song and working outwards from there. Portrayals gathers together for the first time twelve of Brun’s most popular covers, plus a previously unreleased version of the Rodgers & Hart standard ‘Blue Moon’. Collectively streamed over 250 million times on Spotify and featured on film soundtracks, adverts, and landmark TV series such as ‘Normal People’ and ‘Peaky Blinders’, Brun’s reworkings move in tender, unforgettable, and often startling ways.

Portrayals is the first in a series of planned 2023 releases to mark the 20th anniversary of her debut album, Spending Time With Morgan. “Covers have been such a big part of my career,” says Brun. “It’s almost a career in itself. It has its own dynamic. I wanted to celebrate that by giving these songs their own space.”

Ane Brun’s unmistakable voice incarnates the sweet softness of her ballads in its tonality; mellifluous and light, with a slight tremble that ushers in a precious ephemerality. Playful as Joanna Newsom and Fiona Apple, powerful as Joni Mitchell and Dolly Parton, this Norwegian has reconstituted the art of her elders to come up with her own music, for her own universe. Her personal touch resonates even throughout her covers. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of her career, Ane Brun has returned to her signature move by releasing four perfect compilations, exclusively covers, of which Portrayals is the first volume. “Covers have been such a big part of my career. It’s almost a career in itself. They have their own dynamic. I wanted to celebrate that by giving these songs their own space. It’s always a real creative process to record your own version of someone else’s song. I’m not interested in doing a cover version that sounds like the original…” Like Nina Simone, or, closer to home, Cat Power, the Scandinavian makes every song her own. Something that is all the more impressive given that the “revisited” artists come from any background in whichever decade. Portrayals features tracks from Sade (By Your Side), Nick Cave (Into My Arms), Bob Dylan (Make You Feel My Love), Radiohead (How to Disappear Completely), Emmylou Harris (All My Tears), Foreigner (I Want to Know What Love Is), Alphaville (Big in Japan), Beyoncé (Halo), Rodgers & Hart (Blue Moon), the Beatles (From Me to You) and many others. Magical. – Marc Zisman

Tracklist:
01. Ane Brun – Halo (03:51)
02. Ane Brun – All My Tears (02:05)
03. Ane Brun – True Colors (02:21)
04. Ane Brun – Make You Feel My Love (02:47)
05. Ane Brun – Big In Japan (03:09)
06. Ane Brun – By Your Side (02:46)
07. Ane Brun – I Want To Know What Love Is (04:08)
08. Ane Brun – Always On My Mind (03:26)
09. Ane Brun – How To Disappear Completely (03:01)
10. Ane Brun – From Me To You (01:56)
11. Ane Brun – Feeling Good (03:03)
12. Ane Brun – Into My Arms (03:52)
13. Ane Brun – Blue Moon (04:14)

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