Album Review: Winter - A Matter of Time (East Central One)

Looking every bit Johnny and Edgar's kid sister, AnnaLena Winter (no relation) has rock chick written all over her, from her faded denim jeans and black leather jacket upwards as she sits for the cover shot, not exactly smiling, but with grinning, almost confrontational eyes. Seated to the left side of a set of leather twin seats, which have 'waiting room' written all over them, we get the impression that AnnaLena is not prepared to wait around and needs to be onstage, her natural comfort zone.

Fronting the Swedish band named after her, AnnaLena's latest eleven songs find themselves on this their fourth album release since the bands' inception in the late 1990s. A MATTER OF TIME also sees the arrival of new guitarist Fredrik Lidin to the fold, joining the long established rhythm section of Abbe Abrahamsson on drums and Johan Strömberg on bass, together with AnnLena's own guitar and distinctive vocal.

The album opens with the driving title track Matter of Time, an almost pleading song of hope, that ponders the rekindling of a lost relationship. There's an immediate sense that the lyrical content of the album is not going to solve any of the world's problems nor ponder too long on the big questions, but as a statement of personal love issues and relationship entanglements, AnnaLena sets out her stall quite adequately from the outset.

The melodies are often pleasing such as Face on the Wall, Book of Love and the sublime A Minute Away, which has more than a nod to the genius of kd lang. Both Crazy and Pretender also compete for stand out song status, both of which have all the attributes of a freeway classic. 

The closing song on the album puts aside all the potentially radio friendly open top car anthems and provides the album with its heart, a moment of sensitivity on the gorgeous piano led Nothing Without You, which deserves to be played, often.