
This is among one of the year’s best albums, Anna McClellan’s voice is utterly incredible, a natural presence that’s so strong yet fragile, emulating the grandiosity of the singers from the 50’s and 60’s, but the earnest cracks and trills are explicitly modern (and expressively personal). Her analysis of anxiety and relationships mixed with the mundane and scattershot thoughts is brilliant, effective, and easy to relate to. We all have a galaxy of thoughts in our heads, only a fraction of which we ever choose to articulate, but throughout Yes And No, McClellan lets us into her mind, pulling at sentimental moments with a deadpan sense of humor. I don’t often keep tabs on my favorite songs of the year, but “Nail Biting Song” is an undeniable minor classic, a sweeping calamity of anxious energy set to staggering brilliance. Except no substitutes, Anna McClellan forever.

