Ana Egge -- Sharing in the Spirit
“Bring your love to the revolution / Bring your love, change is gonna come,” Ana Egge implores in “Don’t You Sleep”, the bluesy opener to her new album, Sharing in the Spirit. It’s a well-worn sentiment that might come off as trite if that sentiment weren’t the emotional anchor of the album, a superb collection of indie folk charmers. Egge’s songwriting is dense with emotional weight, yet unfailingly inviting; she delivers each line with a simple, childlike candor, her guileless vocals so effortlessly sincere it feels almost unfair. “Sorry You’re Sick”, a cover of a 1970s recording by the legendary Ted Hawkins, is a particular highlight, an amiable bluegrass tune that channels Fiona Apple with its buoyant harmonies on the chorus and shuffling drum fills.
The most sensual track on the album, “Mission Bells Moan”, is a joyous declaration of love; “My God, your naked body / The side of your breast as you turn to me,” Ana Egge sighs reverently over lush production by Lorenzo Wolff. By the chorus, her romantic ardor has entered the realm of the spiritual: “My body is a temple / Your hammer is striking / Mission bells moan, mission bells moan / Mission bells moaning inside me.” The vividly erotic imagery could be read as cheeky, pointedly obscene, but Egge paints the scene with such genuine emotion that it transcends subversion, becoming a true-blue devotional dedicated to the beauty of sexual intimacy. By the song’s triumphant crescendo, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear.
Despite the album’s warm overtones of free-spirited gaiety and comfortable nostalgia, though, there is a persistent tension beneath the surface, a sense that Egge is holding herself back — or being held back. On the title track, Egge murmurs “We’ll be sharing in the spirit tonight” as though it were a death sentence; with a keening cry, she likens it to the violent gutting of livestock. Love is a wonderful thing, but — the album cautions — often it should be, must be a private thing, especially love that skirts the unforgiving expectations of heteronormativity.
“Ready for the Darkness” again finds Egge reveling in amorous desire, but the tone is miles away from the euphoric giddiness of “Mission Bells Moan”; the atmosphere is tense, with heady percussion and muted guitar trills punctuating the restless quiet. When the track does erupt with wailing strings, the outburst dissipates as quickly as it had begun. A few tracks into the album, its cozy sonic trappings start to feel stifling, thrillingly so. Even when Egge lets loose with a surge of emotion, she retreats back into gentle susurration long before fully achieving catharsis.
This moody undercurrent is at its most exciting when it casts its shadow over the album’s brighter moments. “Sorry You’re Sick”, atop its breezy airs, finds Ana Egge desperately pleading with a loved one struggling with alcoholism, begging them to “Pour what you got down the kitchen sink”. Yet at the end of the verse, Egge blithely returns to the chorus: “What do you want from the liquor store? / Something sour, or something sweet?” It’s a fascinating adaptation played perfectly by Egge; trapped by the very structure of the song, you begin to hear the frustration and sorrow building as she has no choice but to act as accomplice to her beloved’s downward spiral. Unfortunately, the other cover, the late Sinéad O’Connor’s* “Last Day of Our Acquaintance”, hews much closer to the original, making for a slightly underwhelming album coda. All things considered, though, “Sharing in the Spirit” is a terrific slice of heartfelt folk music with a continually rewarding emotional core that begs you to leave it on repeat.
*[Author’s note: O’Connor changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat when she converted to Islam in 2018. We could not confirm if she performed under that name or would have preferred to be listed as such for this review.
