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Entering a new musical landscape
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December 2, 2009
 By Diane de Beer
Andra, the petite Namibian singer and songwriter with the big voice, has released a second album, Ever Had That Feeling, but before its local release, she toured overseas with the platinum-selling singer and songwriter Sarah Bettens (of K's Choice) on a nine-date tour of Germany, Belgium, Austria and France.
"It was a wonderful learning experience," says the 20-something singer about her biggest gig to date. She loved the challenge of performing to a crowd who weren't necessarily there to hear her and didn't know her at all.
Anyone who is familiar with her talent will know that like her or hate her, her voice will have an impact when you hear it the first time. It is so so pure, it's always a shock and a surprise.
But Andra has moved on from that big voice/small stature moniker and is much more interested in talking about her music.
The album moves on from Secrets and Skeletons... Notes From a Desert Café and the music is much more experimental than her debut material. But she's still at the start of her career and playing around with new sounds and songs in the best possible sense.
She feels she had more freedom with this album and, at some point perhaps, too much. "I was starting to drive myself and my producer insane," she says.
She plays most of the instruments and worked hard on the acoustic guitar, which is given a much stronger sound than on the first album.
Andra believes she's found her niche and be the audience large or small, she knows what music she wants to write and play and will keep pushing the boundaries.
Her sound is alternative folk, her voice can cut right through you in a Tom Waits kind of way or wrap itself around you with silky smooth tones. What doesn't come through is her youth.
Her music plugs into a large cross-section and is more intimate than her live performances, which are intense both in her sound and intent.
Not much has changed since I first met her a year ago. But she's settled into her South African-based skin. She feels more comfortable in this space and, while Andra isn't a party girl in spite of her image as a rock chick, she's gathered a close circle of friends around her.
A year back, she was new in town, but now she's staked her claim and her fan base is growing.
From Namibia, particularly Swakopmund, she's a loner and that's what her songs talk about. They're introspective, sometimes strident and when she's looking for a particular sound, she'll teach herself to play an instrument just to get the effect she wants.
Many of the songs are leftovers from the first CD that didn't find their way in. "They had to wait their turn," says Andra.
She's also written new songs and the album makes a fabulous adjunct to the first one.
If this sounds like your kind of sound, take a chance. Andra is quite extraordinary; someone who follows her own star.
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