Debut albums are difficult things these days. With the music business being in the state that it is in, that first album is often the only chance that a singer might get to sell herself and it is to the credit of Glasgow’s Anna Sweeney that she makes the most of this opportunity with her debut album “Game Face”.
It is clear that Ms. Sweeney has been able to accurately determine what makes, in today’s terms, a commercial album, and the eight songs on “Game Face” reflect this with each of these songs having the kind of appeal that makes the job of music placement so much easier. Lyrically, her songs avoid any kind of pretension with emotions simply expressed and directly delivered with “Seventeen” and “Fix” working best as examples of her art although it is the straight down the pop line “Jealous” that I would regard as the song that makes this album.
“Game Face” is therefore an album of today and it might well allow Anna Sweeney to get some recognition in a crowded marketplace yet I would welcome hearing what she can do in a less commercial, less synthetic, environment. That probably means that I will have to track her down to see what she can do live on stage.