KÆRY ANN – Moonstone

vote
7.5

• Bands:
  KÆRY ANN
• Duration: 00:39:14
• Available from: 01/23/2026
• Label:

• Subsound Records

Kæry Ann is the stage name of Erika Azzini, a young Italian artist, debuting in 2023 with the album “Songs Of Grace And Ruin”, which received good feedback and allowed her to take her music around Europe for a handful of dates. The album offered a rather original mix, with ingredients ranging from dark folk to shoegaze, frequent forays into grunge and subtle psychedelia, always characterized by soft and twilight tones.

Three years later the new chapter arrives and, if the debut had already highlighted a good dose of maturity, “Moonstone” goes beyond simple confirmation, adding thick layers of doom and stoner to an already consolidated formula, with the aim of strengthening a sound that remains immersive and full of dreamlike elements. Kæry Ann herself spoke of a work shared with the other members of the group in the writing and arranging phase, while the first album was the result of a single effort: this new predisposition has therefore strengthened the character of the proposal, which however has not lost that introspective push that characterized it from the beginning, now appearing more refined.

As references, we can cite Chelsea Wolfe in terms of attitude, the psychedelic doom of Jex Thoth, the more recent Blackwater Holylight and the stoner/sludge of SubRosa, as well as a light darkwave vein identifiable above all in the voice, magnetic and persuasive, even if often stuck on the same tones. Acid guitars and a pulsating bass are enhanced by a rendition that favors authentic and natural sounds and the contrast with the delicacy of the singing creates a balance between roughness and fragility that runs through this spiritual and contemplative journey.

The first single “Hero And Leander”, inspired by the Greek myth of Hero and Leander, is a slender and hypnotic piece that moves at a staid rhythm, exploring the more typically shogaze side, while in “Puritatem Tuam Interiorem Serva” the Latin singing generates an atmosphere that combines well with the severity and harshness communicated on a sound level; the riffs are also abrasive in “The Road”, which takes inspiration from Cormac McCarthy's novel, making those desolate visions concrete, in contrast with “White Dress”, ethereal and with a dark charm that recalls Emma Ruth Rundle. The unexpected link with extreme metal is established by the cover of Bathory's “Shores In Flames”, a historical song courageously distorted, in a version that requires a few listens before being understood, but which in the end proves convincing in maintaining the serious solemnity of the original.

“Moonstone” is therefore a work that focuses on the emotional side and involves the listener with strength and intensity: in this work, Kæry Ann draws on existing models, but reworks them with flair and talent, resulting in a product full of personality and far from the clichés of a genre that is rarely explored at this level in our country.
Following the publication, the artist will leave for a new European tour, this time more extensive: it could be an opportunity to obtain further well-deserved recognition.