EERA - Speak

‘Speak’, the second album from Berlin-based Norwegian, Anna Lena Bruland, is an exploratory narrative of self-acceptance, a perpetual process of renewal experienced by Anna herself and subsequently projected onto the listener. The title track is delicately delivered by descending synth punches and a thumping underbelly of industrial saw loops, while elements of psych-pop bleed in during the chorus of gossamer ‘Ladder’ and the surreal, atonal textures of ‘My Muse’. Each song is layered with Anna’s signature vocals, longing fuzzbox guitar sentences and weighty mantras that bear far more lyrical weight than her spaced delivery lets on. It results in a truly compelling and acute story of individual maturity through self-discovery. While ‘Reflection Of Youth’ delved into intimate soul searching and destructive introspection, ‘Speak’ casts a macroscopic lens on the human experience, delicately documenting Anna’s rising confidence and newfound acceptance in her sense of self.