THE ANCHORESS - As We Once Were

Time flows according to a rigorous geometry for Catherine Anne Davies, a five-year cycle that keeps consolidating her reputation in the eyes of critics. Under the alias The Anchoress, the Welsh singer-songwriter returns with “As We Once Were”, the most ambitious and polished chapter of her story so far. Where the 2016 debut (“Confessions Of A Romance Novelist”) sounded partly unripe and the follow-up, “The Art Of Losing”, dared to face the darkness head-on, this third slice of life carries the specific weight of confirmation. It's an elegant work, a sonic embroidery resting entirely on the intimate track of memory and autobiography.

Davies stages a sumptuous sonic production, within which an old heart keeps beating. The record is a bridge linking four generations of women: her grandmother's vocal samples intertwine with the breath of her newborn daughter, creating a domestic and universal chorus.
The artist's prog soul – already crowned by two 2021 Prog Awards – surfaces in the recurring nods to Kate Bush, a comparison that finds its ideal justification in the aching, intricate architecture of “Hand To The Tide”, one of the album's absolute peaks. The artist, however, also knows how to move nimbly through more straightforwardly rock territory. That's proven by the pop-rock jolts born from her collaborations with James Dean Bradfield on “Throw Over Your Man” and with Gwenno on the provocative “I Had A Baby Not A Lobotomy”, as well as by the digital-only release “Live At London Palladium”, featuring notable guests: Manic Street Preachers and Bernard Butler of Suede).

The most curious tidbit, though, revealed in the label's press notes, concerns the instrumentation: some historic analogue keyboards from Pete Townshend of the Who's private collection were used for the recordings, a detail that adds a further touch of fascination.
In the album's second half, the light grows softer and more mystical: the melody of “All I Really Want Is Peace” floats suspended between the purity of the Carpenters, the melancholy of John Lennon and the psychedelic expanses of Pink Floyd. Despite the overall grandeur, the work occasionally reveals its own limit: a composure that borders on the calculated.
In places, it lacks the creative recklessness and attention to detail that might, for instance, have allowed the shoegaze of “Damsels” to shake off the looming shadow of Cocteau Twins or Goldfrapp. The impression remains that we're in the presence of the most accomplished heir to artists like Kate Bush or Florence Welch, though what's sometimes missing is the wild, uncontrollable magnetism of those very artists.

Make no mistake: boldness and depth are not lacking, and “As We Once Were” confirms itself as, without doubt, The Anchoress's most cohesive and successful chapter yet, one that should also easily find good commercial traction. Minor blemishes – the gentle melancholy of “What You Did” and the pale, Tori Amos-esque melody of “She Knows Her Place” – are smoothed over by refined lyrics (Davies holds academic credentials) and a pop-rock sturdiness that should win over a wide audience, even if a record like “As We Once Were” may end up feeling a touch too predictable for more demanding tastes.

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31/08/2026