This album is a suitable antidote to fear of the future. It may or may not be a miracle that the follow-up to 2016’s “Hopelessness” smells of hope. But she also smells of despair, of the loss of friends, of grief, of anxiety in a fragile system and the desire for liberation. “My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross” is a heart on a cane. Too robust and at the same time too fragile for the shadow over everything. And too clever to put up with the circumstances without resistance.
It whines, it trembles, and it does so in layers
What if you got rid of the shadow or at least sang about it? Anohni, Queen of the Meandering, does the latter. The darkness never gurgles, smacks and snaps in the ten songs, it never rumbles, whips and tugs. It whines, it trembles, and it does so in layers. It’s soul on the surface, it’s tender, it’s smooth (“It Must Change”), but underneath it’s brutal. For the recordings, Anohni gave up the sole composition and production of her pieces for the first time. Soul producer Jimmy Hogarth assembled a studio band and leads with his guitar playing through songs that are a mix of American soul, British folk and experimental music.
The titles, carried by sighing figures, have a ballad-like character and pick up speed (“Can’t”). In the shortest track, “Go Ahead”, just a minute and a half long, the guitar howls to “Go ahead, kill your friends/ You are an addict/ Go ahead, hate yourself/ I can’t stop you.” The longest number, ” Why Am I Alive Now?” convinces with strings and nasal head voice virtuosity. There is no promise in this album that everything will be fine, but it is a mutual kiss on the forehead. One who whispers: “And the taste of water on my tongue/ It was cool, and it was good/ I never knew it before/ I love you so much more” (“Sliver Of Ice”). Anyone who asks themselves what the difference between acceptance and resignation is before listening will know the answer after these 40 minutes: Anohni.
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