The unexpected departure of Anneke van Giersbergen from THE GATHERING in August 2007 unpleasantly surprised all fans of the remarkable Dutch band's extraordinary work. Almost immediately, the vocalist announced the creation of her solo project under the intriguing name AGUA DE ANNIQUE. As it turned out later, Anneke has a fondness for this element ("agua" means "water"), while "de Annique" is van Giersbergen's name in French, emphasizing her leadership and special relationship with the project. And as became clear toward the end of the year, Anneke also has a fondness for another element — the debut AGUA DE ANNIQUE album was titled "Air." The booklet and cover art are filled with photographs of the frontwoman dressed as a flight attendant. If you leaf through the booklet from beginning to end, you can make an interesting observation — on the cover, the stewardess begins her duties with a joyful smile after takeoff, but with each subsequent page the smile fades, and on the final pages her makeup is smeared from tears. Judging by the last page, where Anneke approaches the airport exit with a suitcase, she feels truly wonderful only in the sky among the clouds, surrounded by pure, unspoiled air, far from all earthly vanities and problems. This feeling permeates every note in the music; every sound evokes sadness and longing from the depths of your soul, making you want to abandon everything... and take to the clouds, into the air! The sound and atmosphere of Anneke's debut occupy the same sonic territory as THE GATHERING's later albums, except that the feelings and emotions evoked by the talented Dutch singer's solo work are somewhat brighter than those of her former band. I don't know — perhaps the birth of her first child in early 2007 had an influence on that. (Incidentally, the child's father is the band's drummer, Rob Snijders, a former member of the well-known CELESTIAL SEASON.)
And fans of the great THE GATHERING need not worry — now you have one more band to love at least as much, if not more than them, and to eagerly await each new album. A new AGUA DE ANNIQUE album has already been promised for this year. And who knows — perhaps we'll finally see Anneke in a scuba diver's outfit.