Anohni - Hopelessness

Anohni
Hopelessness
2016
Spotify

The point of a song can be as varied as the actual songs themselves. Sometimes we just want to dance, other times we want to rock out but then there are times where music becomes bigger than itself, a bigger message. Anohni with her debut album Hopelessness seeks to put America on it's heels and bring to light the travesties of a post-9/11 world. Working with Hudson Mohawke and Oneohtrix Point Never Anohni has created something expansive, looming large like the big brother her songs fear the most. Freedom is celebrated, but under the guise of a military state controlling everything. What you find in a lot of modern day protest music is something to blunt, lacking subtlety and artistic bend that make some of the songs from the 1960s so great. You can't just say something outright, it takes away from the song, instead subversion needs to be caressed into a song until it almost melts away. Anohni does this so very well, both in lyrics and music. The electronica that swirls around a track like "Watch me" as "daddy" takes on the persona of an overbearing father while in reality we are certainly talking about the government. The great thing however is that the music holds up so well to the drama of the lyrics, and often matches them with depth and the filling of space crawling beats that ebb and flow.

The way that Anohni sings these buzzwords that at their core are so evil; "execution", "mass graves" and "drones", with such sweetness makes them all the more poignant. She is saying something with such a sweet tone that you can't help but listen and understand. When Anohni reflects on our current climate it is done so through art, Nothing is off limits for Anohni as the state of the world is not a left right issue, it is a human issue. She is not afraid to take on Obama or the right or whomever will stand in Her way of pointing out the absurdity of the constant warfare and death that surrounds us. Besides the lyrics and message though are really great sounds thanks in no small part to Oneohtrix Point Never. This feels much more like something he would do rather than Hudson Mohawke, but the super producer's influence is definitely there as well. With the theme you would think the album would take a decidedly industrial bend, but it only does so a bit. The focus is less on the doom drops and clanging and more on an oppressive space filling vibe that really works well for the record. Anohni is not afraid to mix it up, to bring her ideals straight the the forefront regardless of what they way be. "Why Did You Separate From Me From The Earth?" is simply a magical song filled with all the heart and soul that is poured into this record. Hopelessness really is something special, a protest album that uses an entire arsenal to rail against the ills that face this world. It is rich beyond measure and not just a good album, but an important one. 

9.0 out of 10