Anne Minogue Band Releases “Sandbox”

If this summer’s pop music has had a consistent theme across the board, it’s simplicity. From country to hip-hop and back to rock n’ roll, there’s a demand for efficient songcraft unlike anything we experienced in the 2010s – a time in which decadence made a play for supremacy in pop music – and artists like Annie Minogue and her eponymous band are cashing in. In their new single “Sandbox,” the Annie Minogue Band cuts away the frills from a tried and true blues-rock model and gives us nothing but the meat of their melodies and a dry lyrical delivery that is cutting and unapologetic.

There’s no skewing familiar compositional cues with pointlessly obnoxious experimentation in this band’s sound – they’re too committed to a streamlined look in “Sandbox” to have any room for the fluff and filler their rivals are building entire careers out of. From the moment we press play on this single forward, scarcely is there an instance in which it feels like I’m listening to anything other than a premium American rock act that loves to get down with a little country blues every now and then. 

There’s lust in this lead vocal that could drive home the narrative all on its own, but because of the big guns the band brings to the table, Minogue doesn’t have to give us a purely virtuosic performance to gain the affections of anyone listening to this track. Honestly, I think she sounds like she might be holding back from us a little bit, if for no other reason than to give the sizzle of the guitar parts in the background a bit more room to breathe (not that they need that much in the first place).

The arrangement and even the nimble tempo of the percussion has a blues-inspired feel that makes me want to swing along with the band every time I listen to “Sandbox,” and because the beat is always following our songstress, her verse isn’t catching up with the groove. She’s always in control of what’s transpiring in this mix, and not because of the precise production hand guiding every part of this song from the ground up. 

If you’re just now hearing about Annie Minogue for the first time this summer, you picked the right moment in the history of her band to get turned on to the sound they’re rocking out in “Sandbox.” Rather than trying to fit in with a jaded pop model a lot of other artists are ready to kill themselves over in 2021, Minogue and her backing band are taking a step towards the retro and abandoning the pressures that come with trying to be on top of every trend before they’re even a thing. This is a singer and songwriter who wants to bask in the rhythm of the music as much as she crushes the audience with her dynamic lead vocal, and in “Sandbox” she makes it pretty clear just how passionate she is about the priorities for this group moving forward. 

Mindy McCall

The music of Anne Minogue Band has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division.  Learn more https://musikandfilm.com