Back in summer 2007 long-time singer Anneke van Giersbergen surprisingly leaves Dutch Rock outfit The Gathering, just to come up with a new band called AGUA DE ANNIQUE shortly after, created to allow herself to venture out and voice her solo material and personal lyrics. Two months later Anneke releases her debut record Air with songs she has written during her career in The Gathering. Of course, her former band has left a distinct impact on her personal songwriting process. Songs on Air sound familiar, owning elements of Trip Rock and these special guitar lines at some points. But beware of comparing these both bands, because AGUA DE ANNIQUE prefer much more the Pop/Alternative genre. Their songs are much straighter forward, accessible and mainstream orientated. Commercially AGUA DE ANNIQUE are not, but every now and then their songs are too sweet, too shallow and too trivial.
Many of the songs are flawlessly beautiful and enchanting as Beautiful One, Day After Yesterday, My Girl, Ice Water and Lost And Found. Other ones reveal interesting ideas (Russian spoken lines in Trail Of Grief), instrumental experiments (Saxophone, percussions) and properly rocking guitar work as in Witnesses or You Are Nice!.
But Air also has its weak points. Few songs sound kind of unfinished, not entirely matures and end up too abrupt at times. Also in high-strung pitches Anneke reaches limits, it’s too much at times, or she is singing too snatchy due to breathing.
But at the end AGUA DE ANNIQUE is a freshly founded and talented band with a wonderful singer and a lot of creative potential. Air emerges as a solid and convincing debut record and intrigues how and to what direction the band will evolve and develop.