Anané’s Take A Ride EP was produced by Two Soul Fusion, aka Louie Vega and Josh Milan, all with live string arrangements courtesy of the Apple Hill String Quartet and conducted by Leroy Burgess. The recording dives from the effortless heights of Punk Disco (Let Me Be Your Fantasy, High) into the swirling eddies of Jazz Funk (Coffy Is The Color) before climbing back out into the languorous arms of Italo-Disco (Tutto Previsto). Strings across the production were
The EP is held together in its entirety by the dreamy, sumptuous vocal of its creator Anané, who considers her top line one vital part of the instrumental whole. “I am art,” Anané reflects carefully, “for I am the music as much as I am the singer. Creation means to crawl into the unseen of my own dreams and becoming the beast of my vision, singing to the world as I go by.”
Opening singles Let Me Be Your Fantasy and High both tap into the lifeblood of classic punk disco – when rock, punk and disco merged in the early 80s to create the seminal NYC sound – chugging bass lines and tempestuous high hats providing the DNA for both cuts. On Let Me Be Your Fantasy Vega and Milan employ a dizzying array of tumbling, soaring string sections that dance across rivers of percussion and bass courtesy of Elements of Life band member XXX, Anané’s vocal swirling effortlessly above it all. High starts in similar fashion, Anané pulling the listener into the dance from the moment the needle drops, the chugging bassline catching her wind as the single begins to gather momentum. In both tracks it’s all about the movement, a thrilling, heady sense of dynamism and rhythm that grows with each song as they relax into their natural groove.
From disco Anané coaxes us down into the freewheeling depths of jazz funk with the single Coffy Is The Color. At nine minutes long this is an indulgent masterpiece, a carefully controlled riot, expertly orchestrated so that it builds and grows in energy and pace bar on bar. Anané is the central riff underpinning everything, her voice the steadfast constant within the experiment, various instruments tumbling, diving, rising and swirling around her, adding in volume and excitement until the listener is swimming in whirling electronic and acoustic waters. For any audiophile, Coffy Is The Color is as luxurious an experience as it gets.
Sensual, languid, practically slinking its way out of the speakers and across the terrazzo is Italo-Disco single ‘Tutto Previsto’. A homage to Anané’s love of Italy, the single embodies the unhurried, lazy heat of the Mediterranean. Slow basslines and sliding guitars that have an almost Cajun feel to them provide the song’s foundation, while strings shimmer and dance across the top. Between the two, prowling with an almost feline nature, is Anané’s simmering vocal.
Michael Gray’s Dub Mix of Get On The Funk Train brings the EP full circle back into disco, chunky, squelching rhythms rubbing up against undulating organs, insistent percussion and glistening strings. Paying homage to the original production of Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it showcases the truly timeless nature of the genre, a legacy only added to by Anané’s latest body of work.
Take A Ride is a typically daring outing from Anané, who has for her entire career as musician, writer, singer, DJ and label boss, forged her own path. “My role as an artist has a higher purpose,” she explains, “not only my own personal expression but inspiring, creating, and possibly moulding the world around me. Understanding this sense of power. That I have within comes with great responsibility and understanding that my music will always be more than what I could ever imagine.”
