<p><span><span>- It has been a swift move for Anna Burch<strong> </strong>from signing to <strong>Polyvinyl</strong> to now. It took around a year from pen to paper to when her debut album <em>Quit The Curse </em>dropped. That debut put some teeth, albeit with a lethargic bite, into twee jangle pop and burrowed bijou hooks into laid back love songs. The Detroit native carries her songwriting hooks on the back of clean chords, yoked to refined, effortless vocals. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Actually, another split punctuated Burch's music output before we arrived at this year and the release of <em>If You’re Dreaming</em>. Her songs have always had a starry-eyed quality to them: a real serenade-your-lover-with-a-guitar energy. Here on her sophomore release, the intimate night of musical wooing has gone well and now we’re dealing with heavy eyes and sweet sentiments yawned rather than spoken. It’s been moved to the wee hours of the morning and to the mattress refuge removed from the wider world. It's a more measured and self-assured follow up from one of indie-pop's rising stars. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>You’d be forgiven for thinking <em>If You’re Dreaming </em>will operate around the same playful, upbeat giddiness of a blossoming relationship as what came before it. Both <em>Can’t Sleep </em>and <em>Party’s Over </em>could have easily slotted into the track listing and work as a wonderful bridge between the projects. The latter of the two is a hella-relatable narky vent about being too drained to maintain social expectations; <strong>Erving Goffman</strong> would love this song and its analysis. Amidst the dream state tracks there are two twinkling interludes that frame the songs that lie between and outside the brackets they create. Leading into <em>Keep It Warm, </em>the numbers push an unspoken malaise between the protagonist and the apple of their narrative eye. Between the first interlude and <em>Picture Show</em>, that underlying trouble has been aired, and -on the album’s tail end- it’s all been resolved.<br />
All the songs here gently unfold, filling up the billets smoothly. <em>Ask Me Two </em>makes the most of the minimalism with a percussive pluck, tucked neatly in behind the main instruments, likening itself to a banjo. The line of being overwhelmed -like wine on an empty stomach- wraps itself in the album’s narrative doona. <em>Not So Bad </em>slides in some brass swoons, and across the album there is a bare spattering of percussion letting the heavenly melodies flit as they please. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Burch’s vocals are a standout feature on yet another project, but this time they’re given a brighter spotlight. Not a great deal of emotion can really be gleaned from the saccharine singing but it lays atop of these songs as a commanding presence. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Moving from the floor rug to under the sanctity of bedclothes and on to later in the evening, <em>If You’re Dreaming </em>delivers charm and sweetness, while still addressing those things that can irk you. Like a healthy relationship, it is resolved before the end of night. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Matt Lynch.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2851912128/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://annaburch.bandcamp.com/album/if-youre-dreaming">If You're Dreaming by Anna Burch</a></iframe><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OJpDoQh5eeE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>