Annie Blackman - “Glitch"

SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 2

Pairs Well With…Claud, Wednesday, Katy Kirby

It sounds like a friend’s conversation. Not quite a set of confessions, but there is a rawness here that feels like Blackman is letting us into the messy corners of her life without qualification. All of It, Annie Blackman’s sophomore full-length and her first with Father/Daughter Records, is mostly a quiet piece, a soft landing for her personal, bare songwriting. Clever, knowing lyrics fit better than ultra-serious perspectives in which bedroom pop/rock often leans, allowing Blackman’s music to stand out. Songs like “Drive” and highlight “Glitch” take advantage of minimal soundscapes to put the spotlight on Blackman’s lyricism and it’s a good thing. Her turns of phrase and observational, to-the-point writing is worth a close listen. Deceptively purposeful, Blackman uses nonchalantness as a screen over what feels like a songwriter that has powered through a path of scorn, ignorance, and disbelief that has only allowed her music to shine brighter on All of It. (Kevin McStravick)