ano

Stunningly beautiful, masterfully crafted and politically potent and profound. Nobody has ever sounded so beautiful singing about things that are so abhorrent. Anohni’s debut album is one of the most powerful records of the last months.

The lead singer and songwriter from Antony and the Johnsons has collaborated with Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke on the artist’s latest work. Under the moniker ANOHNI, the album HOPELESSNESS is set to an electronic dance soundtrack with soulful vocals and direct lyrics addressing surveillance, drone warfare, and ecocide. HOPELESSNESS is a departure from the singers recent symphonic collaborations. The album seeks to disrupt assumptions about popular music by embedding vigorously political lyrics within dance/pop tracks.

The most effective track is the opener “Drone Bomb Me”, written from the perspective of a young Afghan girl, begging to join her family already killed by US drones. “Let me be the one you choose tonight,” she sings, “After all, I’m hardly to blame,” amidst an explosion of brittle percussion and sparkling synth tones. You can watch the video here:

Sónar Festival in Barcelona will be the first staging of the show in Europe next Friday 17 at SonarPub. Buy your tickets!

www.sonar.es