Best of CBR Music with Vince Leigh

ANNA RANSOM
TIDES

It’s no surprise that Anna Ransom’s EP Tides claimed the Debut Independent Record of the Year at the 2024 MusicACT Music Awards. It’s a collection of songs that don’t just knock politely on your door but barge it down before setting up camp in your living room and insisting on telling you stories you didn’t know you needed to hear.

With an emotional honesty that feels almost indecent, this troubadour channels the ethos of folk but isn’t afraid to twist it into new, exhilarating shapes. The result is a five-track study in quiet rebellion, where intimacy meets ambition and heartache flirts with catharsis.

It begins appropriately with Exeunt, a track that sidles up to you like an old friend who’s been through some rough nights themselves. The acoustic guitar is warm, the strings subtle, but it’s Anna’s voice—a quivering, raw-edged instrument— that pulls you into her orbit.

‘When promises fold,’ she sings, and you’re left staring at the wreckage of your own dashed hopes, whether recent or ancient.

It’s a song about endings, yes, but there’s a flicker of compassion that saves it from collapsing under its own melancholia.

Then comes Australia Burning, a song that straddles the line between lament and celebration. The harmonies have a campfire glow, but the lyrics—full of smoke, honey, and regret—cut through any sentimental haze. This is not your typical ‘Save the Trees’ anthem. It’s an elegy for what’s lost and a rallying cry for what’s left, delivered with a wry smile that suggests Ransom isn’t above laughing through her tears.

Him is where the EP further tightens its grip. Summonging a slow-building storm of melody and tension, Him drags you into its swirling vortex with a groove equal parts tender and ominous.

‘I kissed your fist,’ she sings, and the line lands like a punch to the gut.

It’s a song about power—how we give it, take it, and sometimes lose it entirely. The arrangement is taut, the drama palpable, and you’re gasping for air by the time the final refrain hits.

Instrumental interlude Theme for a Movie is a deep breath after Him’s claustrophobic intensity. Its twinkling piano and ambient washes plays like a cinematic overture, inviting the listener to fill in the blanks with memories and musings.

It’s a moment of stillness that prepares you for the EP’s crowning achievement, Slow Climb. Closing the EP, it’s the kind of song that sneaks up on you, starting with a subdued piano line before unfurling into a soulful anthem of resilience.

Ransom’s voice soars, brushing against the higher registers with a startling and stirring vulnerability. ‘Hard times, slow climb,’ she sings, and it’s not just a lyric—it’s a mantra for anyone clawing their way out of the darkness. The rhythm section kicks in, swelling the song to a crescendo that’s as much victory lap as it a rallying cry.

Not only a debut, Tides is a statement. Ransom has pulled off the rare feat of making the deeply personal universally resonant. Like the water it’s named after, this EP moves with a quiet power, eroding defences and leaving you changed. In an era of disposable tracks and fleeting trends, Anna Ransom has delivered something lasting—a reminder that music, at its best, both entertains and transforms.

Follow Anna Ransom via www.annaransom.com.au/links