Anna Rossinelli – «Takes Two To Tango»
After listening to Anna Rossinelli’s new album for just a few seconds, it becomes quite clear: There have
been some changes. Without much blaze the Swiss singer lays her voice over a subtle guitar melody
singing the lines «Both feel each other’s breath. Lying side by side.», then continues the bittersweet and
somewhat dingy ballade. Anna varies in voice and tonality, shows some of her many facets and lets it all
end up in an emotional and melodic firework. There seems to be something different than in older works.
But what is it? The answer is simple: This singer and musician has discovered herself in a longer journey
and numerous encounters – she has travelled over 10‘000 kilometres with many song sketches in her
bag.
For her new long player «Takes Two To Tango» Anna Rossinelli went on a three month journey across
the USA in Spring 2015. Accompanied by sound engineer Florens Meury, filmmaker Milan Buettner and
her band members Georg Dillier and Manuel Meisel, the Swiss singer covered more than 6,000 miles by
car. During the road adventure the trio made stopovers in San Francisco, Texas, New Orleans and many
other cities. Their final destination was New York where they put the collection of musical impressions
gathered on their trip together to build the opus «Takes Two To Tango»: Ten songs that had been written
before the long journey, but transformed and coloured by their impressions in the land of endless
opportunities.
There was no plan, just thoughts, ideas and zest for action. The inglorious Swiss trio abandoned concrete
intentions and relied on the power of creativity. Nothing was to be sacrificed for strategic detail and
everything was to remain possible. «We followed a distant vision, but only with rudimentary planning»,
reminisces Anna Rossinelli today looking back on the trip. «When we stopped anywhere in the USA, we
only had one thing in mind: Making as much music as possible», says the singer. Time flew by too quickly
as they were gathering musical puzzle pieces, met numerous people, which left many marks on the Swiss
voyagers. It so happens that many guest performers appear on Anna's new songs that also feature on
her third album «Takes Two To Tango»: San Francisco street musician Mike Haynes inspired the Swiss
trio with his impressive percussion virtuosity. Nick Milo, Joe Cocker's former band leader and keyboarder,
invited Anna and her band to play at his house. In Nashville, songwriter Victoria Shaw who has written
world famous pieces for Christina Aguilera, opened her living room to Ann, Georg and Manuel.
Apparently, the various gatherings during the creative timeout from the daily grind paid off. Compared to
older albums it is really clear that Anna Rossinelli’s newest baby «Takes Two To Tango» offers a different
taste. The third longplayer goes way deeper than it’s forerunners. Conventions have disappeared; the
new material presents itself in a greater diversity than before: From old to new. Times have changed.
Anna’s latest songs are fresher, more fragile and more explosive but remain still poppy. «Wild Children»
as for instance offers a propulsive club beat melting together with a simple acoustic guitar. For «Broken
Hearted» Anna Rosinelli teamed up with a gospel choir in order to give comfort to the lost souls of this
world. Also she serves up «Forever Young» on a plate. The folky midtempo ballad sees Anna going full
Norah Jones. Beyond doubt one of the highlights on is «King Mustafa». Created in Marrakesh, the heartwarming feel good song could be a highflyer on next summer’s Swiss heavy rotations and tells the story
of a king who leaves his comfy zone in order to plunge into real life with all it’s purity. Could also be taken
symbolically as the genesis of «Takes Two To Tango» in general.
Georg Dillier empathises: «The fact that we did not make music in our daily environment enlightened our
creativity. We’d be much more outgoing and would dare ourselves to test limits. I think we found the
music we’d been searching for so long». Quite a statement highlighting Anna and her band’s satisfaction
and the condition at ease they’re in now. The singer herself also happily states: «We’re really proud of the
newest record. I myself listen to the songs over and over again. I did not have such a feeling in a very
long time.» Guess, there isn’t much more to add to such a declaration.