By – Kristi Houk

Recommended if you like: Weyes Blood, Big Thief, Wolf Alice, Girlpuppy

Singer/songwriter Anna Beckerman has a way with words. 

Her debut full length project as Daneshevskaya pronounced (Dawn-eh-shev-sky-uh), Long is the Tunnel is a sweetly haunting collection of 7 tracks that bend the psyche in a fairy tale fashion. The album opens during a hypnotic downpour and the listener is instantly transported into another world of kaleidoscopic melody amongst glowing imagery.

“Somewhere in the Middle” is the track that hooked me. Beckerman allows the listener a peek inside her dream world (raise your hand if you ever played “Light as a Feather?”) Her syrupy vocals mixed with the rhythmic strum of an acoustic guitar sets the tone for the rest of the lp. There’s something brewing– you can fill the tension mount as the bass comes in and WE’RE ALL AWAKE NOW! The track hits a groove and soars, er, in the middle… “Eyes sleeping like a fish/Beauty, brains and charm but I wish/It was somewhere in the middle” Better living in moderation, right? Or Let’s get back to the innocence and wonder of sleepovers – camping out at midnight, telling ghost stories under flashlight.

The sense of awe and mystery is profound on this album. The minimalistic sonic landscape is the perfect backdrop for Beckerman’s surrealistic vocals. It’s as if she’s letting the listener read her private journals. “I need the stillness to grow, that’s all I know,” she sings on the folksy “Pink Mold.” That’s what art does. It allows a glimpse inside the mind of the creator. Take what you want leave what you don’t for someone else. As Beckerman puts it, “You will not have me.” Long is the Tunnel is a gift. An artist coming into her own and she’s letting us follow along.  

If this record doesn’t inspire you to pick up a pen and paper or a guitar or all three; then I can’t help you.    

Stand Out Tracks: “Somewhere in the Middle,” “Pink Mold,” “Ice Pigeon”