Note: Piano playing on "Love Your Anemones" features Ron Sexsmith. ...the songs on Sheard's latest album, "Anemone", are arresting enough to make anyone shut up and listen. With dark, lush melodies, smart lyrics, and Sheard's rich vocal style, it's hard to tell exactly which direction the wallop is coming from.... by Jennifer Van Evra, The Georgia Straight (Vancouver, B.C. Usually when someone gets compared to artists you know are completely unique - Jane Siberry, say, or Mary Margaret O'Hara - it's the fast track to disappointment. Not so in Mia Sheard's case. Sporting the most unusual voice this side of Kate Bush, Toronto's Sheard kicks serious musical a** with this, her third offering (following up 2000's Reptilian). Shininigly strange but undeniably compelling, Sheard is no shrinking violet murmuring soft refrains behind a keyboard. "Anemone" features some hard-rocking guitar action that made me think she'd be voted most likely to fill in for Freddy Mercury if Queen ever had a reunion tour. "Sexy" and "Piercing" are the two words that kept coming to mind when listening to this, one of the most singular albums I've heard in ages; my only complaint is that "Anemone" only features nine tracks. by John Threlfall, Monday Magazine (Victoria, B.C.) Mia Sheard could make the Tim Hortons jingle sound like an otherworldly invocation to the gods. The local singer-songwriter has a gift for phrasing and a great voice - it wraps itself like a boa constrictor around fragmented, even ugly melodies, spanning an awesome range and squeezing out a shimmering beauty. Those pipes are put to good use on "Anemone". Sheard rocks out more here than she did on the earlier "Reptilian", and her quivering, shivering soprano burbles out from underwater depths of feedback-heavy electric guitar. by Sarah Liss, NOW Magazine (Toronto, ON) LIVE REVIEW : Mia Sheard proved herself a welcome addition to Canada's music scene last Friday at the [Queen's] Grad Club. Disillusioned by the commercialized uniformity of popular music, I'm always delighted to stumble across an artist whose sound and voice are wholly unique. Mia Sheard...is one of those rare singer-songwriters who completely defies categorization. She offers her audience what most record company ingenues painfully lack: an original voice, wisdom, humour, and the unmistakable nuances of honest emotion. Sheard took to the stage... and treated the audience to an intoxicating collection of old and new songs...backed by an incredible four-piece band who were consistently tight and polished throughout the show...Sheard delivered each song with the precision and intensity of an actor...each number was an experience unto itself... by Lisa Dell'Aera, The Queen's Journal (Kingston, ON) Freaks exist when people believe in the rightness of the ordinary. Mia Sheard is an agnostic on that point, which puts her in strong sympathy with all those who have felt freakish in the presence of ordinary situations. Since that's just about everybody, Sheard's newest disc should have a wide audience... Several of these songs are about death or departure of love...Through it all, Sheard finds the words and the tunes with her custumary skill.... by Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail Mia Sheard refuses to follow the trend of pre-packaged female pop singers being churned out by the minute. Instead, Sheard chooses to follow her own formula - soulful acoustic melodies with meaningful lyrics.... Recorded with all original material...Anemone provides a much needed break from recycled mainstream beats... by Robert Wong, The Gazette (Univ. of Western Ontario)