Anna Stine Highlights The Importance Of Music Therapy

Anna Stine is first and foremost a music therapist, a sentiment which is echoed in the calming quality and transformative themes of her music. Following her debut album ‘Company of Now’, released late last year, Anna Stine rereleases the track ‘There I’ll Go’, accompanied by a landscape led music video.

This midwestern artist is glued firmly to her musical roots, with her sound evoking everything from folk, to country, to jazz. Reflections of Billie Holiday and Norah Jones are felt throughout her debut album – an easy listening selection of songs that boast beautiful percussion and silky vocals. Where ‘Company of Now’ was a tender tribute to change and adaptation, this revival of ‘There I’ll Go’ indicates a newfound openness in the young singer.

‘There I’ll Go’ has a simplistic, acoustic instrumental bass line that methodically sticks to the melody in a soothing, deep breath way. Opening with almost tribal sounding drums, before easing off into the neat, looped percussion, this track evokes a laid-back country-folk genre of music. Although there is not much excitement in the lyrics or the melody, it is seamlessly produced to balance both vocals and instrumentals which complement each other at every steadily plucked string. The music therapy philosophy of ‘music as catharsis’ definitely plays a role in the healing, salutation like the quality of her work.

Anna Stine must be applauded for her work in music therapy, an often-misunderstood field which has powerful healing and cathartic powers. In an interview with Music Mermaid, Anna beautifully sums up the importance of music therapy, saying: “music therapy is the clinical use of evidence-based music interventions that target non-musical goals such as emotional processing, pain management, cognitive function, and motor ability (just to name a few). Board-certified music therapists work in a variety of settings, everywhere from prisons to schools to wellness centres to mental health treatment centres. My background as a music therapist absolutely influences my approach to my own music. I’ve never seen my music as a “product,” but rather a “process.” I always aim to engage audiences in a way that encourages them to connect to their own stories. For me, music is all about creating a space that facilitates connection, and hopefully, some healing.”

The music video that accompanies the track speaks to openness and powerful elemental energy. The video follows Anna across the American West Coast, featuring rocky terrains, skeletal deserts and haunting highway shots bathed in mist. Awkward stills make the video appear an amateur effort, but it is redeemed through the beautifully captured landscapes that provide rich soundscapes for the artists low murmuring, menacing vocals. Some play with shallow focus cinematography may have enhanced the depth of the message in the video, giving it the three-dimensional touch that is so present in the song.

Anna Stine embeds a restorative quality in her music – a trait that suddenly feels untouched by other musicians. She is the perfect accompaniment to a bath and a bottle of wine after a long day.

For more information about the potential of music therapy, visit some of these links:

https://www.bamt.org
https://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/music-therapy/what-is-music-therapy/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/natural-standard/201306/music-therapy-health-and-wellness