Customer Reviews

Thinking Room

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You don't get signed to a major international label and flown halfway around the world to record your debut album with a great producer Victor Van Vugt (Beth Orton, PJ Harvey etc.) if you don't have great talent and great talent is something that Anika Moa has in abundance. The debut album Thinking Room has already been Number One in her native New Zealand and her debut single Youthful has been a big hit in Australia too.

So who is Anika Moa? Apparently she's a twenty one year old half Maori singer songwriter from New Zealand with a number one album called "Thinking Room"! What talent and maturity at such a tender age. Her album has only just become available outside of the southern hemisphere but I was lucky enough to have been able to import a copy several months ago and well worthwhile it was too. My favourite tracks so far are "Youthful" and "Mother" (written about her own mother apparently), as well as "Falling In Love Again" which is included on the Julia Roberts/John Cusack/Catherine Zeta Jones movie America's Sweethearts (and is apparently about returning to New Zealand). What a beautiful song. I had to buy the album just to hear that one song again. Big things are expected of this young girl and I for one hope she achieves them!

Amazing debut album from New Zealand's new Singer/Songwriter Queen. Highlights of the album are "Flowers for you", and "Harry and Leena's song". As a New Zealand artist Anika has been compared to Bic Runga (Drive/Beautiful Collision) who appeared on the American Pie Soundtrack, but Anika can stand proudly alone and bask in her own talent. Thinking Room meanders between heartfelt Love-type songs and deep almost dark songs that make you want to sob, but in a good way. She's even better to see in person, so if you love this come to N.Z. for a taste of Anika playing in her barefeet. This Album features songs too good for radio, buy it and put it on heavy-rotation at your Whare. Kia Ora Anika.

I first heard of anika moa in a record store in Christchurch 5 years ago now and had no idea who she was. After an enquiry to the record store clerk I quickly learned anika was a 21yo local singer/ songwriter whom the new zealand locals were very fond and proud of. I took this CD home as a souvenier and have listened to it and appreciated it for a long time now.

New Zealands answer to Jewel, the songs warm to you very quickly and if you are the sort of person that can recognise talent and give credit where credit is due, you will be telling all your friends about anika in no time.

I have played this album to many people with wide ranges in musical tastes and I can honestly say they were all impressed and asking me where I bought it. Some CD's are worth taking a chance on and owning in your collection... This is one of them.

Each song calls out to you, but the best tracks are Holding Me High, Falling In Love Again, Good In My Head and My Son.

This is a very stylish pop album and very smartly and sensitively packaged by Atlantic Records. Some of the songs are vaguely Christian in nature. "Good in My Head" is one of these; it's also so breathtaking in its rush of sound and exotic instrumentation that I could imagine it accompanying a promotional video for New Zealand travel. The odd (to me) English of the title shows Moa sticking to whatever idiolectal lyricisms strike her, without making concessions (at least as yet) to the North American-dominated inflections (if that doesn't sound too pretentious) of most female singer-songwriters (who are after all from North America). Having said that, I think "Falling in Love Again" sounds a bit too much like a watered-down Meredith Brooks. "My Son" is completely over the top. "Youthful" is a hilarious send-up of middle-class sexual commerce; if you're a guy, it'll make you squirm even as you enjoy the tune. "God in His Culture" is another "idiolectal" Christian tune, this time in the form of a simple elegy. In all, a very fine record, especially for global anglophiles with a literary bent.

Anika Moa is having great responses both here in her Native New Zealand and the world abroad, her debut album "thinking room" is some of the best New Zealand music ever and she is set to become a New Zealand Singing legend. with "Youthful" her first single having huge success here and her second single "Good in my Head" being just as catchy and soulful its a sure thing to reach the charts. but overseas she has also had a bit of success overseas like having her song "Falling in love again" in the film America's Sweethearts, the last New Zealand Artist to have music in a major world wide motion picture was the equally wonderful Bic Runga with two songs in the hit comedy "American Pie" But any back to Anika, her songs are soulful and inspiring with lyrics as good as Jewels and an excellent voice, Anika is world class talent that fans of The corrs, Jewel, Heather Nova, Bic Runga and all the other artist of that nature should not walk past GET YOUR COPY OF "THINKING ROOM" BY ANIKA MOA TODAY

I just heard of Anika via a listening station at a book and music store. A couple of chords strummed, the first verse began, and I was hooked. I ended up listening to the entire album right there. The 21 year old New Zealand citizen has a soulful voice and offers heartfelt lyrics, ranging from sad and reflective ("Everything's the Same," "God in His Culture") to the appreciative and thankful ("My Son," "Mother") to the upbeat and optimistic ("Falling in Love Again"). Instead of songs that make you feel like the singer wants to be pitied, these tracks simply feel like you are talking to a close friend if not reading a passage from your own journal. I love the thoughtfulness presented in the lyrics and the steady, mellow blend of vocals and instruments in the music. This is a must-have for folks who enjoy singer-songwriters akin to Chantal Kreviazuk, Dido, Natalie Imbruglia and Joy Drop.

I havn't heard all the songs on the cd but I can honestly say that the seven that I've heard are great. Great beats, Great lyrics, great everything. My personal favorites are God in his culture, Good in my head, and Youthful. I know that I'm only twelve but the songs speak to me. They're really cool and they don't put you to sleep. I'm more into music like Simon and Milo, Vanessa Carlton, A*Teens, and NSYNC but Anika Moa has become one of my favorites!

Anika Moa is clearly a rising star with real talent and a beautiful voice that pulls at the heart. I visited NZ recently and looked for something to remind me of the spirit there, and Thinking Room was my #1. A surprising variety in this album, I'd recommend it to anyone. Most favorite tracks: Everything's the Same, I talked to you, Falling in Love again, God in his culture. I'm looking forward to her next album.

This is a great album from a very telated New Zealand singer.

Only thing to say is if you like this you'll enjoy her second album

"Stolen Hill" even more.

Anika Moa is a very talanted young musician, not only as a singer/songwriter but also playing the acoustic guitar. Thinking Room is her debut CD after being signed up by an international record label without a previous New Zealand label. She has made an international name for herself with having her song, Falling In Love Again on the 'America's Sweethearts' soundtrack. Anika Moa is a 21 year old from Christchurch, New Zealand from a half Maori background. Hopefully there will be many amazing songs from her to come in the near future. >Enjoy<