Album Review: Anna Coogan - The Nocturnal Among Us (Self Release)

There's very little on THE NOCTURNAL AMONG US that gives us a clue to Anna Coogan's original plan to work in the field of Opera. After becoming disillusioned with the academic constraints of Salzburg, coupled with equal measures of home sickness and love sickness, the Seattle-based singer-songwriter found inspiration in the singing of Alison Krauss in 2001, returning to music after a short spell away, picking up her guitar once again and almost immediately forming her own band Anna Coogan and north19. Strauss to Krauss you might say. 

Two albums down the line, GLORY (2004) and SLEEPWALKER (2007), the band called it a day and after some soul searching, Anna returns with her debut solo album, accompanied by a bunch of fine musicians including JD Foster on guitars (who also produces), Austin Nevins and Scott Hampson also on guitars, Geoff Hazelrigg on bass and guitars, Brooks Miner on keyboards and Eric Hastings on drums. Most of those names also helped out in other areas such as engineering, pre-production and sleeve design.

Recorded in just eight days, the eleven original songs on the album showcase Anna Coogan's unmistakable and assured voice, from the radio friendly Dreaming My Life Away to the brooding Coins on Your Eyes, each accompanied by some fine musicianship and thoughtful arrangements. Back to the World, the album's opener, eases us into Anna's world with an arrangement that augments its dark musical undercurrent with a voice of convincing vulnerability.     

Revisiting Holy Ghost of Texas, which previously appeared on GLORY, Anna presents a slightly mellower feel than the original recording, adopting a sparse arrangement reminiscent of some of Cowboy Junkies' most atmospheric work, especially in the occasional guitar flurries. The songs here are deeply personal, especially So Long Summertime which together with all the other songs on the album, almost provides an epitaph for a lost friend.  

With an impressive forthcoming tour schedule, the songs comprising THE NOCTURNAL AMONG US will no doubt serve Anna well, whether you catch her at a concert hall in San Francisco, a folk club in Falkirk or the smallest house concert in the back of a van. I certainly look forward to catching her at one of those soon.