“One of our best songwriters.”

“The first time she came to play at The Icarus Club, it was one of those busy nights in the venue when there were a lot of people making a LOT of noise. Anne started to sing and immediately silenced the room. Literally, pin-drop silence. Her songs are fragile, personal, and brilliant.”

“It was one of those moments when Anne started singing, and Aaron and I just looked at each other, in sort of mute shock; this voice is such a thing.”

“Hearing Anne live, the first thing that strikes you is that voice. It’s rich, potent, emotive and yet somehow restrained too: even when she drives it hard (she can and does) there’s no lack of control. You always sense she’s holding a bit more in reserve.

And the songs.

There are lyrics to make you smile wryly, to moisten your eye, to make you think. That they reflect much of the singer’s own experiences is evident but they speak more widely than that. These are songs that touch the human condition in all its manifestations from lost love to grief, hope to despair, anger to forbearance.

If you haven’t yet heard of Anne Sumner give yourself a treat and go and find her – live if you can. She is a singer/songwriter of rare ability and presence. ”

“The other point that strikes home is the power in the voice, deep and rich for a female vocal yet beguiling, attractive and engaging.

The album is ‘Beacon’ and the distinctive voice with its idiosyncratic and intriguing phrasing, belongs to Anne Sumner ... and as albums go, this one will find a special place and stay with you.

The songs are intense, emphatically personal, emotionally strong and deep with meaning
”

“It’s not easy to provide a reference point among Anne’s fellow-songwriters - there may sometimes be hints of Joni Mitchell, but even that subliminal observation might be thought a little off-beam, even fanciful, in the context of Anne’s personal brand of innate sensitivity and emotional authenticity. Vocally, her warm style may evoke shades of Joan Armatrading, but again that’s not the whole story by any means.”

““Anywhere With You... might have come from the pen of Sandy Denny circa Old Fashioned Waltz””

“Her voice has a weight, a timbre, that draws the listener in and the lyrics are written with such heart tearing honesty that it is almost impossible not to be drawn in to the point of crying.”