While Brooklyn’s Annie Hart came up in the NYC scene as part of the synth-pop outfit Au Revoir Simone (QRO review), she’s since been forging her own solo career (plus an Au Revoir reunion to appear in the Twin Peaks revival). She’s been using synthesizers since before everyone was using synthesizers, and not the giant EDM beats but rather personal, intimate sounds. With Weight of a Wave, Harts takes the sweetness and amps it up at times with great, pressing activity.
There are essentially two sides to a Wave. There are the sweet synth songs that Hart has long been making, such as the sad “Falling” and the killer “Nothing Makes Me Happy Anymore” (which gets bonus points for mentioning not one, but two friends named Keith – undoubtedly her actual friends Keith Carne and Keith Murray of We Are Scientists – QRO spotlight on). But there are also a few out-and-out celebrations, catchy with pushing beats (that still thankfully aren’t EDM), starting with the great opener “Boy You Got Me” and hitting its peak with single “Stop Staring At You” (QRO review).
Admittedly, those tracks are so good that one wishes Hart had done more of them on Weight of a Wave. But it should be no surprise that the songwriter that’s earned numerous prestigious grant awards would range further while still staying true.
