First I have meant to review this album for the longest time, but Ms. Klein, despite achieving quite a lot of media fame, is a hard one to track down when it comes to the net. Her original website seems to have disappeared off the planet, and a web search is unhelpful, mainly because she shares her name with some talk-show style psychiatrist. Then when I find her new website (seriously Ann pay for a domain girl, you have been awarded so many musical grants, and I can get you your own domain for $12 a year) there is no image of the album cover, so I have to go and steal the picture from Amazon! I mean you’re making this too much work.
Anyway for the uninitiated Ms. Klein is a singer-songwriter, who has been the 'cool axe slinging' girl for musicians as diverse as Joan Osborne, Natalie Imbruglia and PM Dawn. In between she has carved out her own unique niche in the musical world, among other things she has released two excellent solo albums, recorded background music for a Stephen King audiobook, supplied songs for a French documentary on William Burroughs and appeared on the front cover of Billboard. Of course all that pales in comparison to being mentioned in Indie Monkey...
So to the music. Well if you scan through the various pictures of Ann Klein you will get a sense of the contradiction that typifies her music. In some she is sexy and vampish, in others plain and ‘girlnextdoorish’, in some she radiates strength and confidence, in others she is a fragile little girl, arms curled around velvet trousers, eyes peeping out from behind retro sunglasses. Likewise the songs are journey of emotions and tones, from the seductive, playful and ironic ‘man-bait’ to the disturbing love song to a weapon that is 'my gun'. Elsewhere the album uplifts on ‘I don’t care’, dazzles with its cleverness ‘just the gardener’ and digs a little bit deeper ‘the girl with the prozac smile’.
All in all this is an album of real strength, a CD that impresses continuously throughout its fifty minute, eleven track existence. Unlike so many of the millions of female artists who grew out of the success of Alanis (don’t get me started) Ann Klein has her own definitive, and not borrowed for the day, style. Her music combines elements of art-pop, blues and rock in a palatable but not overly sweet concoction. The result is a CD of depth and beauty, and you really can’t ask for more than that.

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