Anna van Riel – Wooden Leg (Nook Rd) (13th Floor Album Review)
Anna van Riel’s Wooden Leg brings the listener directly into its emotional world from the opening bars. The voice sits close in the mix, the arrangements carefully shaped, and the album feels grounded and immediate. These songs are preoccupied with memory, return, belonging and the attempt to make sense of change.
With over twenty years as a songwriter, van Riel’s career has taken an uncommon path. After international touring and early releases, she moved into children’s and community focused music, remaining active while stepping outside the conventional album trajectory. Wooden Leg signals a return to her folk, jazz and blues roots, the writing shaped by time and perspective.
Working closely with multi instrumentalist and producer Danny Fairley, van Riel builds a record grounded in shared musical instinct and a voice that carries clarity and weight. Fairley’s arrangements guide tone, pacing and texture, giving the songs cohesion while allowing each to find its own atmosphere.
14 Years begins with guitars before van Riel’s clear vocal enters. The mood is contained, strings tightening beneath the lyric while mandolin threads between phrases. As the instrumentation draws inward, recollection begins to carry physical tension.
That intensity continues into Betty, featuring Ryan Fisherman. Their vocals overlap and echo, deepening the narrative pull. Bass, banjo and guitar circle with a dark pulse, occasionally lifting the rhythm before the tempo slows and settles.
On House Up On The Hill, a rattle introduces guitar and drums. The vocal stays centred as the arrangement shifts between openness and restraint. When the energy dips, harmonica restores motion without disturbing the atmosphere.
As the record progresses, the palette broadens. A jazz inflection gives Letter To Myself lift, while True Colours grows from softer acoustic guitar into a fuller band presence.
Rhythm drives The Moon Made A Mess Outta Me. Vocals, bass, drums and acoustic guitar establish an upbeat groove with a subtle Latin inflection. Hand claps punctuate the movement, the track briefly opening into space before drum shuffle and picked guitar rise beneath the returning vocal. The arrangement mirrors the lyric’s restless current.
Fitting In moves with steady momentum, smooth bass and drums carrying the song forward as the vocal arrives fast and rhythmic, thoughts spilling out in quick succession. Percussive rhythm briefly takes over before the guitar resolves into silence.
The temperature lowers in November Wind. Bass heavy and restrained, the instrumentation moves deliberately while van Riel’s vocal sits high and reflective. The song is anchored in Aotearoa’s seasonal turning, the tail end of winter reluctantly giving way to spring and the tentative promise of summer. Fairley’s controlled playing allows the imagery to settle.
The emotional weight gathers in the closing stretch. My Darling, Take Me Back unfolds at an unhurried pace, Skyler Stetlar’s electric guitar sighing beneath van Riel’s voice. Each word lands with intent, the arrangement narrowing the focus toward memory and loss. On I’m Messy, Viv Treweek’s trumpet enters low and resonant between phrases, deepening the admission of chaos and loneliness.
The title track, Wooden Leg, brings the album to a measured close. Bass, acoustic guitar and keys rise from a soft drone, Brad Maclure’s fiddle adding texture as tension builds. When van Riel sings, “I am tryin’ to learn the difference between life and a song,” the line settles as the heart of the record. The arrangement holds steady before the final admission of leaving.
Across Wooden Leg, van Riel and Fairley shape a space defined by attentiveness and candour. The emotional temperature shifts across its running time, self doubt and questioning giving way to a tentative clarity. The songs remain anchored in close observation of feeling and place. By the end, you are standing inside its weather, aware that the world beneath you has shifted.
John Bradbury
Wooden Leg is out now. Click here to stream or buy.
Follow Anna van Riel
Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
