The debut album from Brielle Ansems feels comfortably at home amongst the dreary rains of spring. This New Hurricane is refreshing and clean, but with a touch of melancholy that’s difficult to place or explain – much like April showers.
It’s clear from the get-go that Ansems hasn’t set out to linger on life’s brighter moments with this album. There’s a clarity ringing throughout that’s immediately gripping. It manifests in Ansems soothing vocals, in the clean instrumentation. At the same time, Ansems manages to weave a dim and cloudy aura, often using aquatic imagery to help with this endeavour.
In fact, Ansems handles all of her subject matter through that same woeful lens. It creates a sense of ambiguity. Even when she dares to be hopeful, on tracks like “Sweet Simple Love”, it’s always with a hint of hesitation. She sings with the perspective of someone who’s grown jaded from past sorrows. “Better Off” has her looking towards a brighter future, but it doesn’t come without bitterness towards the person who’s been holding her back for so long.
Songs like “More Than My Heart” and “When You Say You Love” foray into major key territory, giving the illusion of brighter days, but Ansems is still grappling with things like self-doubt and the vulnerabilities of relationships. Though Ansems spends much of this time lamenting, it never feels self-indulgent.
It’s likely because she crafts her songs in such a way that they feel so personal and specific, even though she’s often speaking in metaphors and poetic phrasing. “Ironside”, one of the singles from the album, has Ansems debating on if getting a tattoo will be an impulsive enough act to help her move on from a breakup. It’s a pretty specific sentiment, but Ansems takes care to not be too blatant with her words.
The atmosphere of this album is one that lingers long after it’s finished. It’s clear that Ansems’s voice would be very out of place in any other environment. As her debut album, she’s done well to establish the world that she wants her songs to live in – and it’s one that exists on a distant, rainy shore.