Amelia

‘Amelia’ is this a towering work of artistic endeavour and creative genius which comfortably ranks as one of Anderson’s most definitive statements yet.

On Amelia, Anderson resurrects this courageous woman and gives her breath, heart, and soul. It is impossible to hear this aerial ballet and walk away unaffected.

Despite the inevitable ending, Amelia is an unexpectedly soothing record. This is largely down to Anderson having a calm, meditative quality to her voice that holds steady whether the arrangement is minimalist or intense. But much of the relaxing quality of the album is also related to Anderson’s ability to look at a figure frequently only cast in tragedy and mystery as a whole person.

Drawn from a live show Anderson first staged in 2000, Amelia is a narrative of Earhart’s final adventure, split for the album’s sake into 22 short parts, but flowing together, with Anderson’s voice and violin floating above the deep swells of music made by a band including guitarist Marc Ribot; Sexmob’s drummer Kenny Wollesen and bassist Tony Scherr; a string quartet; and the Filharmonie Brno, under Dennis Russell Davies. [Sep 2024, p.45]

This relationship between Anderson and her subject is what elevates Amelia from mere biography into an enormously moving, poignant creative triumph.

Amelia is the work of a true auteur at the very height of her craft. [Sep 2024, p.74]

The storytelling is more linear and less elliptical than we might expect from Anderson, though any restraint in the storytelling services the cinematic scope of the project, where soundscapes segue with ease as vertiginous strings swoop and dive, and Anohni provides vocal interjections. [Sep 2024, p.130]

Anderson's admiration and affection for this feminist icon is such that you come away from Amelia with a greater respect for those who keep on taking risks. [Sep 2024, p.28]

Amelia flits briskly from scene to scene, with just enough musical backing to flesh out the atmosphere: shimmering oceanic drones; subtly driving pulses; dissonant whorls abruptly smoothed into reassuring consonance.

Amelia might have worked better if Anderson had kept the focus on Earhart's internal dialogue as she struggled to live up to the goal she set for herself and why she chose such a brave and challenging feat, but as it is, it's a collection of interesting ideas and striking moments where the whole doesn't quite equal the sum of the parts.