A mix of Karen O, Fever Ray and Alison Mosshart, Adelaide singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Anya Anastasia presents her debut EP titled 'Dissenter'.
A sonic journey that traverses 'soulful experimental folk, rugged desert rock' while contemplating current motifs and subjects pertinent to the survival of the planet, 'Dissenter' is an intense, beautiful, intricate, lush and emotional ride of tones and flavours.Then there's Anya's voice that soars with an emotional intensity that frames her compositions with a passion that pierces the heart.
"My debut EP 'Dissenter' occupies dystopian landscapes of the present, and leans just a decade or two, or three, further into the future," Anya says.
"It sinks its teeth into urgent questions about climate change and the extinction crisis, while questioning Australia's democratic integrity with laconic provocations.
"Dust of the expanding deserts, smog and neon of fast-growing, fast-moving cities, and dwindling pockets of wild sanctuaries polarise the sonic flavours of the EP while the mood toes the line of rebellious determination and jaded weariness.
"I describe the music itself as a blend of experimental folk and West African-inspired desert rock, it definitely gives a post-industrial nod to traditional folk influences from around the globe, but I think there's something distinct and Australian even about the sound that has emerged, as the inspiration is well and truly grounded in the landscapes here.
"In saying that, I'd like to pay my respect to traditional owners of the land and acknowledge the first tellers of stories of this land, First Nations peoples, as the most important tellers of stories moving forward toward healing Country, and a better, more equal, more liveable future."
Losing Wild
Explores the idea that the loss of biodiversity in nature diminishes human imagination.If we continue our rampage of homogenising the world around us with monoculture crops in place of diverse forest ecosystems, our poetry will get increasingly more dull. Can you imagine a traditional English poem with half the references to nature redacted?
I know there are larger problems associated with the destruction of ecosystems, but as a lyricist, I found this an interesting way in.
Smog & Mirrors
This is about being trapped in a cycle or a system, and giving in to a predetermined fate.It was inspired by a dream of a huge glass-topped piano being dragged across a desert, played by a crusty old man, and if the song he played got stuck in your head, your soul would become trapped in the piano for eternity.
The little, trapped souls add percussive texture to the song he played as they hit their hard little heads against the glass top. Are we free? Who do we serve?
Spinning Heads
In a fast-moving world sometimes we need to slow down to be able to see an alternative path. The candy and the shiny lights, and the advertisements of consumer culture make an intoxicating swirl. Breaking from habits is at first jarring, before it is liberating.Dissenter
Forging a new path, standing up for what you believe in. Meeting adversity with that steely combination of determination and wariness.Going against the grain isn't easy especially when the issues are so dauntingly big and constantly shifting, that's why I chose the setting of a woman travelling across giant sand dunes, or shifting mountains constantly mining inwardly for strength.
Goes Untold
This stripped-back song reflects on the fact that the answers and the comfort we need is in the natural world if we stop to look for it. Important stories and scientific solutions are all around us in nature, but if we stay disconnected to it we lose that lifeline.This connects back with my opening point about the importance of heeding and listening to First Nations wisdom, perspectives, and understanding of land and Country. So many types of healing is required for progress to occur.
