WATCH: Sincerely Anne shares her thoughts on her latest single
The video was shot on three different days for about five to seven hours each day, and 99 per cent of the scenes were shot completely underwater.
Anne Kriel, who goes by the name Sincerely Anne, recently released her new music video for her new single, Transcend.
The RECORD visited her to talk about her new single, career and personal life.
Sincerely Anne, who has taken the music industry by storm with her haunting voice and heartfelt lyrics, has announced the release of a new single which, like She’s on Fire, offers a powerful message.
Overcoming hardships
“I often write my songs from personal experiences. Things that I can relate to,” said Anne.
“Transcend is about overcoming hardships whatever form they may take in your life and allowing yourself to grow despite adversity. We all go through hardships and sometimes it feels as if we are in an endless loop of problems.
“This song is about growing stronger through suffering and allowing ourselves to grow positively from it to become warriors,” Anne explained.
As with her other songs, Anne’s inspiration for the lyrics came from personal experiences and emotions. She lost a close friend to crime and is in the process of overcoming serious health complications.
But while the song is a message the artist essentially wrote to herself, it is also one that is universally relatable.
For a while, Anne dealt with health complications and she was weak and in constant pain without knowing what was wrong.
She went from doctor to doctor for seven years but she still did not find the answer to her pain and being unwell.
After visiting 22 doctors it was finally discovered she has a type of lyme disease called ricketsia which causes chronic fatigue syndrome and other chronic invisible illnesses.
“I want to create awareness and let people know there is a treatment and that healing can occur. This disease exists in South Africa and there is help. You are not alone,” said Anne.
According to Anne, she wanted to grow some flowers from the rain which she was experiencing in her life, and emerge a warrior rather than a victim, and in the process inspire others to do the same.
“I understand that telling someone who is battling something that ‘you need rain for flowers to grow’ can seem to invalidate when they are not standing in your shoes. But Transcend is more like an inner monologue, a message of encouragement, from you to you.”
Shooting the music video of Transcend
The video was brought to life by Sean and Ilse Moore and was shot at their studio in Johannesburg. Transcend comes along with an emotive, ethereal video shot almost entirely underwater.
Written in the emotional aftermath of a close friend’s death to violent crime, and throughout overcoming her own long-term health complications, Anne has penned this track as a message of encouragement to herself.
“It is a story about a girl who is swept underwater metaphorically and literally, where she has to learn to cope with life’s hardships and thus her inner warrior is forced to awaken.
“She finds beauty in her situation, is forced to look inward to gather strength and accept the hardships of life as they force her to grow stronger so she is capable of weathering the next storm. As a warrior this time,” said Anne.
Anne said it matched the message in the song perfectly to do it underwater.
“When it rains it pours and sometimes life floods you with so much hardship that you feel you’re drowning. You’re alone in the abyss. It was the only way I felt we could portray going through something like a chronic invisible illness (or whatever the viewer may be going through) and emerge stronger.
“My hardships have encouraged me to follow my heart and live passionately while there is still time to do so. What I want people to take from Transcend is that because life is uncertain, we must live fully and passionately so that ultimately it would be a shame to die, as the lyrics go. While we have air in our lungs, we can still make an impact,” said Anne.
On a personal note
Anne lives in Johannesburg South but grew up on a farm where she was home-schooled until the age of 13.
She is the youngest of five children and started playing the violin at a very young age. She had been playing the violin at events for 19 years and singing in bands for five years before launching her solo career, which she regards as one of her biggest endeavours, in 2017.
She has enjoyed many career highlights over the years and has shared the stage with a number of big names in the music industry, including Connell Cruise, Ard Matthews, Joshua na die Reën, Jan Blohm, Amanda Strydom, Graeme Watkins Project, Shortstraw and Shaun Jacobs.
She also featured in various orchestras, like the NWU PUK Orchestra and Rand Symphony Orchestra, both as concertmaster and violinist.
She is a violin and piano tutor when she is not on stage.
“I teach music on the side. It is amazing to share my knowledge of music with others,” she said.
Anne has been married for eight years to Timothy Kriel, who she met at a church function in Meyerton. Something people do not know about her is that she is nerdy and rather skilled at making bad dad jokes.
Singer and songwriter Imogen Heap inspire her.
“She is a British artist and she has been in the music industry for a long time. I like the fact that she is such a technologically innovative artist.”
Anne’s advice for young, up-and-coming artists is to not wait to be seen.
“Do not wait for people to notice your music. Do it for yourself and for the love of your passion. Just keep on dreaming your dream and do not give up. No one is amazing at things straight away, let yourself grow and have a growth mindset.”
Anne’s motto is to live your life so that it’s a shame to die.
WATCH the music video of Transcend
