Christine Anu
"I've always been about songs I can connect with and stories I feel I can tell. Doing them acoustically is the most natural thing in the world to me cause you're able to breathe and feel and understand the meaning without the clutter.…
Christine Anu Timeline
1992 Graduates from Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre Sydney
Tours as backing singer with Neil Murray and the Rainmakers
1993 Debut single Last Train in collaboration with Paul Kelly
1994 First of 15 ARIA nominations as Breakthrough Artist of '94
1995 Stylin' Up album produced by David Bridie spawns four singles
Wins Best Indigenous Release ARIA
Island Home wins APRA Song of the Year
1996 Best Female Artist ARIA
Best Indigenous Release ARIA for Come On
Appears in first feature film, Dating the Enemy
1997 Sings Now Until the Break of Day with Royce Doherty and David Hobson for Baz Luhrmann's Something for Everybody LP
1998 Stars as Mimi in acclaimed Australian stage production of Rent
Wins Green Room award for Best Actress in a Musical
2000 Come My Way is second platinum album
Sings Island Home at Sydney Olympics Closing Ceremony
2001 Plays Arabia in Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge
2002 Stars in Glyn Nicholas stage comedy, Kissing Frogs
2003 Third album, 45 Degrees
Wins Female Artist of the Year at annual Deadly Awards
Plays Kali in The Matrix Reloaded and Enter the Matrix
2004 Talk About Love wins the Deadlys' Single of the Year
2005 Presents Intimate & Deadly, autobiographical stage show and album
Liberation Blue Album: Acoustically.
"I've always been about songs I can connect with and stories I feel I can tell. Doing them acoustically is the most natural thing in the world to me cause you're able to breathe and feel and understand the meaning without the clutter. It's good for the ears and it's good for the song."
You can hear Christine Anu's full immersion in the performing arts in that statement: a commitment to communicating the essence of a story through the quiet power of belief. A singer, actor and dancer of her calibre knows the core of any piece of art lies not in its production veneer, but deep within.
Acoustically is the most honest and direct album from this incredibly versatile, multi-award-winning Australian artist, a largely unembellished record of the show she presents on stage with acoustic guitarists Simon Hosford and Scott Griffiths.
"When you strip away all that production, it actually makes it easier for me," she says. "If you think you're bored with a song and you're limited to just a few instruments, sometimes it can really help 'cause you're forced to be little bit courageous, take a different path than you normally would."
Platinum classics here include fiery acoustic versions of Monkey and the Turtle, Wanem Time and Party, and a stunning reaffirmation of Christine's signature tune, Island Home. New material includes Last To Go, a tender song dedicated to a friend lost in Bali, and Ocean of Regret, a Neil Murray composition originally demoed for her landmark debut Stylin' Up.
Perhaps most surprising is Sunshine On A Rainy Day, recast as two songs in one with exotic Indian instrumentation. "Simon started playing this riff and I thought 'Omigosh, wouldn't it be great if I could bring in Mother's Child here?' Suddenly it was like the song was reborn. That's when it gets really exciting, when you give a song a whole new life."
The entrancing Dive was another example, Christine says. "When I listen to this version I just go 'Aaah, that's how it's supposed to sound.' I found co-producing really stressful," she laughs, "but it's really made me trust my feelings when I'm making decisions about certain songs."
The warm, intimate, live-to-tape process naturally brought out some of Christine's deepest passions, notably two songs by Bob Marley: an incredibly poignant version of Redemption Song and a climactic, full-band finale of No Woman No Cry.
"I'm so glad we've recorded this album cause I only ever envisaged acoustic performance as a live thing," she says. "I'm constantly aware, playing these songs live, that they really are, in essence, beautiful songs. It's not really a question of how I sing them, the beauty is already in the song."
$19.95