Anya Marina

Maybe Anya Marina should consider getting a more supportive doctor. After telling the singer/songwriter/guitarist that her larynx was that of “a very young adolescent,” and her asking what that meant for her music career, the physician replied, “Well, it’s not like you’re ever going to be singing at the Met.” That may be true, but if her voice were booming and operatic, she’d be an entirely different artist—and probably not unique. Marina has a delicate, wispy voice that floats and flitters gently. It enhances the variety and subtlety of her songs, which easily could get overpowered by a histrionic performer. It shapes the very essence of Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II, her second full-length album, which incorporates bits from many genres into a sound that’s quintessentially her. “Move You (SSSPII)”—the opener and, at least parenthetically, the title track—starts in a minor key before picking up. “All the Same to Me” is jazzy pop, “Afterparty at Jimmy’s” indie rock; “Waters of March (Aquas de Marco)” a world-music fusion. No, Anya Marina won’t ever be an opera diva; that prognosis is correct. What she is, and will remain, is a magnificent singer whose strengths transcend physiological limitation.