ANOHNI- Hopelessness (2016)

ANOHNI- Hopelessness (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

A couple of years ago British singer Antony Hegarty, of Antony and the Johnsons, for a moment, seemed to be almost everywhere, he was collaborating with people like Lou Reed, Hercules and the Love Affair, Bjork, Yoko Ono and Boy George; Hegarty was slowly becoming a predominant force in the musical forward thinking scene in love with his androgynous voice and enigmatic appearance, as Hegarty was bringing forth a quite different vision, musically he went for the tortured introspection, his music and lyrics exuded a haunting fragility and a volatile temperament, suddenly, it seemed as Antony was being restrained by the context of his band.

In ANOHNI, Antony seems to be living her past become, a woman trapped in a man's body seems to be liberated and this is perhaps the most intense feature throughout Hopelessness, a recording breaking apart with Hegarty past, a completely fresh new beginning and an engaging immersion into the territory of unpredictable and exciting electronica, powerfully backed by two titans of modern experimentation, Hudson Mohawke and Daniel Lopatin, the man known by his groundbreaking project Oneothrix Point Never.

Drown Bomb Me is the first theme out of the record, with Antony using her beautiful mourning vocals to new heights thanks to the astonishing backing of Mohawke gleaming production and impressive crystal clear arrangements, putting Antony in a pedestal for her voice to shine in the middle of darkness and despair, while on 4 Degrees starts with a brutal beat thanks to Lopatin love for dissonant sounds, here, the evolutionary musician who started as a noise composer, shows that he has grown mature enough to carry the weight of Antony almighty intense vocals, a song that's immense and high soaring, making a great fusion of deep dark Electronica and the fragile humanity of Hegarty vocals.

While on Watch Me ANOHNI and Mohawke step in a way into 80s electro music with pretty startling lyrics and a sound that would make 80s great Boy George proud, and again going into really controversial landscape with Execution, a definite triumphant musical composition by ANOHNI and Mohawke, both of them showing the tremendous admiration and respect leading both of them into such impressive musical creation before going really deep into the true heart of darkness in the neo noir I Don't Love You Anymore.

And what about the regretful Obama, it seems that ANOHNI is evolving in an astonishing fast pace, leaving inner worlds and entering subject more contemporary and global, which may sound silly everywhere else, but in the voice of Hegarty and under the sonic treatment of Lopatin is just perfect, while on Violent Men is truly a riot to hear ANOHNI letting herself go into the mindfucking sonic trip again by Daniel.

ANOHNI is an explosive recording, is Antony leaving his inner turmoil and immersing herself deep inti the outer world, courageously tackling contemporary subjects and fears in a truly assertive way, which makes her new vision even stronger, Mohawke and Lopatin are just the best collaborators ANOHNI could find, as they both embrace and catapult ANOHNI into the infinite and beyond, this is undoubtedly the best record made this year so far.