paris

i thought today i'd make a real stretch for pop fans. the few people that might recognize Anna Domino probably do so from the first Sixths album where she sang "Here in My Heart". in the early eighties Domino, born Anne Taylor, spent the infant years of her music career simutaneously trying to break into NYC while unexpectedly finding early success in belgium. she settled into brussels long enough to begin work on a mini album followed by her self-titled debut album, which was released on Factory Records in 1996 after her single Trust in Love caught on and was a NME single of the week in the uk. the Factory release was a success and she found herself frequently touring europe. comparisons were made to acts such as Everything But the Girl and Suzanne Vega given the poppy, subtlely danceable vibe of her music, but the lyrics are deceptively quite sad, full of self-doubt, frustration and fear of failure. her second album, This Time maintained some of the uptempo dance tracks, but also saw a number a ballads. the album was a commercial success in europe and also gained fans in her native japan, but attention the u.s., where she began her music ambitions continued to ellude her even as she took up residencies in new york clubs when she could have been continuing to tour overseas. Mysteries of America was her third and last proper album. at this point she had attained a cult following in the states, championed by fellow musicians, and many pointed to this as her most accessible and "american sounding" album. unfortunately it went widely unnoticed. this song is from that album. Domino would release a record in 1999 with a new band called Snakefarm, pairing up with Michel Delory who helped arrange her second album. Snakefarm is more of mish-mash of folk, blues and trip hop. i fell in love with Anna Domino's albums in college, intriqued by an international pop diva sound and whispers of a breakdown made believable by her wonderful lyrics. these three albums can be very challenging to find. fortunately their is a canadian release from the mid-ninties collecting what was dubbed "Favorite Songs from the Twilight Years" that has many of her great songs and is a bit easier to find.

Anna Domino "Paris"