Karney Music 2025
One True Song
Marking a series of memorable dates, American singer-songwriter casts a glance at eternity.
Two successful decades in show business and musical education give any artist the right to look over their shoulder and take stock of what’s been done – and if it was done right, to try and secure one’s legacy. That’s what Anna Karney seems to try on this mini-album whose pieces – three appearing in both electric and acoustic variants – find the Bay Area veteran locating her place in time. The chanteuse remembers how it all began by dusting off and delivering a mature remake of a cut which opened “All Connected” she debuted with back in 2003 and demonstrates how everything in life is still inseparably linked in the grand scheme of things. Not for nothing the lady switches from personal to universal here, to commemorate the anniversary of Mississippi Burning, but not before paying her dues to the community.
If every self-respected musician should, sooner or later, bestow an anthem on their audience, the titular number of “One True Song” is this performer’s contribution to the cause. A follow-up to “Meet On The Ledge” and “Meet Me On The Corner” in its folk-informed warmth, it exquisitely fleshes out simmering guitar strum and smoldering organ purr with fiery spirituality and rousing chorus inviting everyone’s voice to join in the sway, as Karney’s vocals reach far, wide and deep to resonate in people’s hearts. But while the intense “Gave My Guitar Away” pours the milk of human kindness on a heavy groove and catchy riffs to heat up the flow, Erik Smyth’s scorching six-string solo stoking up the singer’s sweet harmonies, the initially ethereal, albeit imaginatively percussive, “Eos” opens up a romantic panorama and becomes increasingly tangible, and the intimate “Suspended” embraces the sky via delicate vibe and relentless lyricism.
However, it’s the drama of “Freedom Summer” that occupies center-stage here, especially in an electric version, going historically accurate over a Southern-colored backdrop where Anthony Blea’s violin passages ramp up Anna’s anger. This is why the raga-tinged “Out Of Body 2025” has to move to the fore afterwards: to project Karney’s powerful pipes onto a pulsing canvas, pierced with James Deprato’s furious fretboard attack and Uriah Duffy’s bass rumble, where her talents for symphonic complexity shine afresh.
So yes, there may be only one true song yet, when this song soundtracks life, it can have many melodies.
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