The singer and songwriter Anaïs has released her self-titled debut LP record album. The album is comprised of 12 songs for about an hour of listening time. A highly danceable, melodic record full of beats, strings, and synths centered around clarion vocals. Anaïs first CD is a cornerstone album bursting with heart and natural talent. The album entire is very personal to Anaïs (pronounced ah-nay-is), a Canadian chanteuse, now living in the United States. “My love of music started from being in a church choir since I could walk,” Anaïs writes. “I had a very strict, religious upbringing that did not allow outside world influences of any kind, especially music! I had to hide all secular music and practice singing in a closet. Growing up was extreme and harsh. I had to fight for any freedom I got. The more my parents tried to control me, the more I fought." Music by Anaïs is often beautiful enough as instrumentals, yet it is her voice that commands the album, her lyrics that command her vocal delivery. Anaïs' lyrics are sometimes direct, often poetic, sometimes allegorical and sometimes outright autobiographical. Her themes vary from the delicate to the brazenly defiant. A degree of this fiery spirit is easy to note in the following description of her songwriting. “The message I want to share with my listeners is that you can be beaten down and fall hard many times on the broken road, but still come back up a champion, or a fighter at least. Bloodied and battered, but still alive and kicking, stronger than before. You can change your world and life the way you want to live it, doing what you love to do… [Specifically speaking of] my song 'Star Warriors,' I want people to feel empowered in these troubled times against tyranny, against injustice. A revolution of sorts that fights with love and non-violence." Anaïs cites as main artistic influences a broad spectrum of titans, including classical composers such as Beethoven and Bach, rockers such as Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and U2. Also Mariah Carey “for her powerful, crazy vocals.” Piano-based pop like Coldplay, Evanescence and One Republic also figure into her music-listening repertoire. Dance music by many European and American artists including icons like Madonna, greatly influenced her music. -S. McCauley