This Swedish-born, Berlin-based singer songwriter’s fourth release comes preceded by three “beautifully woeful” albums; ‘Night’(2014), ‘Run, Lucifer’(2015) and ‘Closure’(2017).
Her accent lends an exotic slant to songs which focus mainly on relationships that have either collapsed or appear to be in a delicate state of balance. For example, in Elsewhere she confesses “I’m still not over the pain of you” while November revolves around a more positive refrain: “You treat me like I am somebody, like I am someone.”
The first single, Don't Know, is the most upbeat of the tracks, at least in terms of the shimmering synth pop arrangement. However, even here Adna sings of putting her love beside another as if this is a stop-gap solution rather than a permanent arrangement.
The album opens with the only tune not sung in English. Kad Procvatu Behari (When the trees start blooming) is an abridged two-minute version of the Bosnian folk group Shaderwan Code’s powerful lament. This is a perfect vehicle for Adna’s plaintive, emotionally charged vocals which manage to sound assertive yet vulnerable.
A melancholy tone hangs over all the songs but this mood is couched in such a romantic glow that one feels that even the black water of the album title is illuminated. The album therefore calls to mind the flow of a river rather than the stagnancy of a pond.
