Before returning to Melbourne at the end of 2004 to embark on a singer/songwriter venture, Anni Lang’s performance history was steeped in the cover band and rock band circuit of Queensland.

With its remote areas, eclectic venues and diverse audiences, Queensland was a good place for Lang to cut her teeth, and she spent a substantial period performing classics by bands and artists such as Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morissette and The Easybeats, before the desire to record her own material became too urgent to ignore. Anni wanting to bring the ideas of more personal musical aspirations to life, sought the services of a producer and backing band with the intuition to do justice to her talents.

After combing the internet, Sam Hawksley (whose experience as a producer and performer extends to stints with John Farnham, Vanessa Amorosi, Lee Kernaghan, Adam Brand and just recently Keith Urban) was nominated as producer, and he assembled a like-minded gang of musicians to bring out the best in what would become Lang’s self-titled debut EP. The recording process was undertaken at Love Hz studios and, in spite of the celebrated cast that appears on the album, Lang’s velvety vocals are the pivotal point, her catchy songwriting crucial to the overall appeal.

“I had a fairly good idea of the kind of CD I wanted to make before going into the studio, but it changed a little when we got in there and the guys adapted the songs to their style of play,” Lang says.

Blending lush instrumentation with dynamic arrangements, a gentle folk-tinged, sophisticated pop sensibility pervades the EP, the crystalline production ethic capturing a warmth and sheen that begs for commercial radio rotation. In tracks such as Turn Right Now and Did I, Lang’s emotive vocal delivery drifts seamlessly from one note to the next to draw keen parallels to the likes of Alanis Morissette and The Corrs. Moreover, the gentle strumming and breezy progressions on the moving, Mr Ordinary, ache their way to a chorus that is as affirming as it is hooky. In fact, despite the somewhat wounded nature of subject matter, there is an endearing positivism and forthrightness throughout. Lang is generous with her headspace, and her brand of songwriting is influenced by the glory days of the singer/songwriter genre made famous by artists such as Bob Dylan and Rodriguez.

“I think these artists are strong in what they convey through their songs, and they’re thought provoking”, says Lang.

With the CD recently released, and Lang’s propensity to take it on the road, the time couldn’t be sweeter to step out from the shadows of her heroes and leave a legacy of her own.