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Hailing from Woking in Surrey comes a sensual, playful and feisty singer songwriter, Anna Neale. After touring as a member of the Dublin soul band The Commitments Anna’s move to become a performer in her own right has seen her take her career to a new level. So far Anna has performed her unique acoustic rock (or ‘sex folk’ as dubbed by the national Canadian press!) with gutsy vocals around the world, attracting the attention of an increasing number of fans with her live, TV and radio appearances.
Winner of 2009's Guildford Brit Award for Best Female Solo Artist, this year has seen Anna complete her new album ‘Touch’ with producer Jez Larder (One Eskimo, Amy MacDonald) and headline at the world renowned Canadian Music Week festival (CMW) in Toronto.
In 2008 Anna reached the finals of the London Metro's 'On-line, On-tour' competition', and the finals of MTV’s 2008 ‘Get Seen, Get Heard’ competition. Her interview and song (filmed live at 'Bed' in her home town) ‘Soul Momma’ received regular play on various MTV channels across the UK over the spring and summer. To finish the year, Anna performed as part of O2 Undiscovered before the Elton John concert at the O2 Arena.
Anna’s past credits include playing at the sell out BPI showcase as part of Canada’s NXNE festival in 2006, where she was the highest rated solo artist. Part of her Canadian tour saw her writing and recording with Justin Gray (Joss Stone, Emma Bunton) and John Wozniak (Marcy Playground).
As well as showcasing at Manchester’s renowned ‘In The City’ music conference and performing regularly at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Anna has performed as part of SXSW in Austin, Texas, and at the NEMO Music Festival in Boston USA in 2005. Anna’s Boston appearances resulted in her track ‘All For Nothing’ topping the NEMO Starbucks download charts across the whole of New England.
Her new album ‘Touch’ is set release in February 2010 in conjunction with independent label 'Somebody's Music'.
"Unlike the typical fare of thin, airy-voiced female folksters, Neale surprises by breaking away from the pack with a gutsy vocal style that’s both sensual and soulful." Metro, Toronto, CA
“A sassy songstress with a shrewd observational eye which she uses to great effect in her melodic tales of life and love.” Linda Serck, BBC Berkshire
“At certain points Neale looked like what Christina Aguilera would look like if she could write songs and play the guitar.” Chart Attack, Canada
www.annaneale.net
www.youtube.com/annaneale
www.myspace.com/annanealeacousticrock
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anna-Neale/6189448418
http://twitter.com/annanealemusic
The Mag Review: Anna Neale - Handle With Care
8/10 - A must-listen.
Anna Neale has been perfecting her acoustic rock sound for a while now and this EP suggests it's a job well done!
'Not Made For This' is such a firey pop-rock track, it can't fail to impress. It's got a massive chorus and the whole song is washed in Anna's luscious voice. If you didn't check your details, you might think she was just the good looks and special vocal in front of a writing team and session band, but you're actually dealing with a genuine artistic songwriting talent, not a conveyor-belt package.
Things are softer and more vulnerable for 'Handle With Care', a teary-eyed break-up song. It maintains enough of a beat to avoid intraverted agony and the vocal is so sweet it transforms the entire song.
'Soul Mamma' picks things up with lounge-pop grooves before 'Life Is Good' supplies some total positive chillout.
This is a great record. It's got a radio edit of 'Not Made...', without the naughty words and a remix of 'Soul Mamma' and it hits all the right spots. It has some instant hooks and some growers to catch you later on.
Written By: Saur
Date: 03/11/2007
www.the-mag.me.uk
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