Anarchist Gospel

The title of Sunny War's fourth album, Anarchist Gospel, gets to the bones of the singer-songwriter's guerilla art. Until recently, War was waging – and frequently losing – a desperate struggle against a multitude of demons. Born Sydney Lyndella Ward in Nashville, she was 13 when her family moved to Los Angeles. An outsider with attitude, she fell into a self-destructive cycle of addiction while pursuing a musical agenda galvanised by heavy metal and punk yet tempered with acoustic folk roots. Eventually, War moved back to Nashville where her distinctive voice was nurtured by producer Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes, The Deslondes, Jeremy Ivey). Anarchist Gospel opens with ‘Love's Death Bed,’ a mashup of downhome country blues and church choir exultation, which deeply cuts into a doomed romantic partnership. For ‘Shelter and Storm,’ a phalanx of acoustic guitar, baritone guitar, piano, bowed cymbal, banjo (notably played by Dave Rawlings) and percussion propels a dire warning about messing with Mother Nature (‘she is fighting for her life/ain't got no problem taking yours’).

Overall, War's major label debut on Americana imprint New West Records (Alejandro Escovedo, Drive-By Truckers, Sara Watkins et al), bodes well for a productive, triumphant future.