Vuur. It’s the Dutch word for fire. This could very well be a link to Anneke van Giersbergen’s fire red hair, but it stands for so much more. Is this new project on fire though?
Some of you might know Anneke van Giersbergen from one of her many projects. May it be her solo work, The Gathering, The Gentle Storm or maybe even her work with The Devin Townsend Project. Well, I can tell you, forget all of that, or maybe even combine it all and you get “In This Moment We Are Free – Cities” (from now on, I’ll just name it Cities).
While working with Arjen Lucassen in The Gentle Storm, Anneke noticed how her fans would love her to go back to some heavier music. This sound and vibe is clear on Cities. The band contains great musicians who we might know from other bands. With Ed Warby on drums, Jord Otto and Ferry Duijsens on guitars and Johan van Stratum on bass, it’s hard to go wrong. Not only that, but the album has been produced by Joost van den Broek, who recently played some awesome shows with Ayreon Universe.
In Cities, we get to travel the world. Each track is centered around a big city, like London, Rio, Istanbul and Paris. We all know how our travels bring us to certain places and what feeling we get there. Anneke tries to bring a story with each song, inspiration she also got during her many travels.
For example, Days Go By – London talks about the great fire, kind of symbolic for the band’s name as well maybe. Because there are so many different cities, so many different influences, every song feels like a gust of fresh air. The record does not get stale or boring. Maybe even to the extent of being a little bit too overwhelming for a calming listening session.
Anneke’s voice is on point as always, even though in some songs the change of notes is a bit too much. The mixing of In This Moment We Are Free – Cities is superb. During some times the record also felt a bit like the recently retired Stream of Passion, which to me means a part of Arjen Lucassen is still in this music. This is definitely not a bad thing, since Anneke has her own style, but has been influenced by a lot of great musicians.
Whether you are a fan of Anneke van Giersbergens previous work, maybe a fan of Stream of Passion, Delain, or maybe even Devin Townsend, I think In This Moment We Are Free – Cities can reach out to a lot of people. Definitely worth a listen and when you do, you might not stop for a while. So we can say for sure: This record is on Vuur!
Read our interview with Anneke here.
By Michael
Rating: 8.5/10
Release date: 20th of October 2017
Record Label: Inside Out Music
Track Listing:
1 My Champion – Berlin 07:36
2 Time – Rotterdam 06:40
3 The Martyr And The Saint – Beirut 05:35
4 The Fire – San Francisco 04:47
5 Freedom – Rio 06:06
6 Days Go By – London 06:30
7 Sail Away – Santiago 06:00
8 Valley Of Diamonds – Mexico City 06:25
9 Your Glorious Light Will Shine – Helsinki 05:32
10 Save Me – Istanbul 05:05
11 Reunite! – Paris 04:39
Total Length: 01:04:55