Name: System Failure by Jennifer Faust
Duration: 3 min 43 s
Description: Cotton Jenny, 2008, with Fred Smith, Arturo Diaz, and Tim Acock

Turning of the Year - single release 18.4.24
Old Light - album release 5.9.24

Turning of the Year is the lead single from Anne-Marie Sanderson’s forthcoming debut album, Old Light. Six years on from her last release, the EP ‘Book Songs Vol. 1’, Sanderson opens a new chapter by offering both an invitation and a manifesto: ‘It’s time to set a new intention, focus our attention / Follow this breath to its full potential…’.
 
In an age where attention is spread thin and our focus seems constantly blurred by peripheral darkness, Sanderson’s songs seek out glimmers of hope and create space for them to shine. Appreciation of seemingly inconsequential things fuels her musical creativity, yet her songs often hint at the bigger picture, at once thought-provoking and uplifting. These elements of her songwriting are showcased with confident clarity in this new album.
 
Due out in September 2024, Old Light promises to be well worth the wait. In addition to being Sanderson’s first full-length album, it will be both musically and thematically her most diverse release yet, with a mix of brand new songs alongside previously unreleased material written over a decade ago. Touching on themes of nature, personal growth, and ancestral wisdom, the album is also rich in musical scope, paying homage to diverse influences from folk, pop and jazz. The end result is an original, organic sound, unmistakably Anne-Marie’s own; a signature sound crafted with care in her home studio, where she took on the roles of multi-instrumentalist, arranger, recording engineer and producer.
  
Combining deft guitar work with imaginative vocal melodies, Sanderson’s delivery combines a heartfelt tenderness with a sense of purpose. There is an understated authority to her work and an irresistible inevitability to its emotional momentum. Lush string and woodwind textures create a dreamy and expansive sound world, while her lyrics and voice strike the beautiful balance of expressing emotional complexity with grace and simplicity. Each note and every word is significant, an essential part of the greater whole. Or to borrow from the album’s soulful second single If, ‘everything has got its right place / everything has got its right time / and everything has got a balance / and everything will work out fine.’

Turning Of The Year

Cotton Jenny, 2008, with Fred Smith, Arturo Diaz, and Tim Acock

System Failure

This page contains some of my favorite recordings from past projects, including Cotton Jenny, the Jennifer Faust Sextet, Hymns for the Drowning, and solo-titled recordings from my year down in California (2009).  Stuff I'm proud of, and bandmates I miss.  My current band is Denim Wedding, established in 2010, with Brian Kunkel.  More tracks to come!!

System Failure

Jennifer Faust

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