Anya Marina releases Live and Alone in New York, a 17-track collection of songs (and their accompanying back-stories) spanning Marina’s entire catalog. (Songs include 'Clean & Sober' from her debut Miss Halfway, 'Move You' from her Atlantic Records release Slow and Steady Seduction: Phase II, 'Notice Me' off Felony Flats, 'Go To Bed and Shut Up' from Paper Plane, and at the time of recording, as-yet-unheard songs from her latest LP Queen of the Night...

Live and Alone in New York is a collection of old and new tracks by Anya Marina. Something that is a little unusual these days is the connection that that Marina has with the audience. Before each track she gives a little lighthearted background info or story about the song she's about to perform. It works well to get a feel for the person behind the songs and some of them are quite humorous. But you're never quite sure whether the troubled young soul is a stage character or if it's all real.

The songs themselves are all pretty strong and the acoustic setting works well for this live recording. It almost sounds like she's giving the listener an intimate performance in their front room.

If you're a loyal fan than this allows you to hear some old favourites performed in a more intimate setting, and if you're not familiar with her output this represents a good overall view of her body of work to date.

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Nick Smithson