Anna von Hausswolff has a healthy back catalogue dating back to 2010’s Singing From The Grave, 2012’s breakthrough Ceremony, and most recently 2022’s Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and now of course, Iconoclasts (YEAR0001).
Photo credit: Philip Svensson
Additionally Anna’s attracted her fair share of controversy, particularly from Fundamentalist Catholic groups who have labelled her music “satanic.” The album’s promotional notes doesn’t hint at anything that could cause Pope Leo XIV and his followers consternation, so they may be able to rest easy…for now!
“The Beast” is an instrumental with a John Coltrane meditative, world fusion feel as can be found on Om and Meditations. It’s a beautiful number which strikes deep into the soul setting you up for what’s to come. “Facing Atlas” is expansive, with soaring vocals that draw comparisons to contemporary artists as SRSQ who produced 2022’s Dream Pop classic Ever Crashing. A superbly constructed piece. At over eleven minutes “The Iconoclast” is the album’s longest track and sonically akin to Kate Bush fronting post-reunion Swans, the Post-Rock textures of the latter melding effortlessly with the banshee wailing of the former. The final lyrical refrain “can I protect you” offers you comfort and hope and ranks as one of the finest tracks of Von Hausswolff’s career.
Stooges legend Iggy Pop and his distinctly gravelly vocals both contrast and compliment brilliantly Anna’s own more ethereal style on “The Whole Woman.” “The Mouth” has a Folk feel which makes it seem so organic and grounded, one could even say spiritual, as uplifting as any gospel choir, while “Stardust” features Industrial and Dark Ambient touches a la Einstürzende Neubauten as well as moments that recall Bjork. Both the lyrics and vocal performance feel deeply personal and you can really sense the emotional roller-coaster Von Hausswolff is on throughout the song’s duration. “Aging Young Women” features Ethel Cain and is for those new to Von Hausswolff’s work, possibly the ideal entry point with which to commence their listening journey as possibly the most accessible track in her musical oeuvre. If there was any kind of justice it would be getting mainstream acclaim and exposure not “The WAP Song”. The spirits of both John Coltrane and Albert Ayler make themselves known on “Consensual Neglect” and this breathtaking instrumental would fit effortlessly on any number of releases by the two aforementioned Free-Jazz giants, stunning. “Struggle With The Beast” has a playfulness, tipping its hat to the kind of Soul-Jazz which Barry Adamson (Magazine/Bad Seeds) has a habit of employing on his solo work as well the sense of eeriness that can be found on the Lost Highway OST.
Abul Mogard a.k.a. Guido Zen is the guest on “An Ocean Of Time,” one the record’s more sonorous tracks and which will resultantly please fans of her more Drone-orientated works, meanwhile, “Unconditional Love” (featuring cinematographer and director Maria Von Hausswolff) is heartstoppingly beautiful and a paean to the bonds that tie individuals together, in this case familial. If you aren’t moved by the song and its sentiments then your heart must be made of stone. “Rising Legends,” the album’s concluding track, is also its shortest at just over two minutes thirty. Another instrumental, it’s understated but after the majestic preceding track, feels entirely appropriate and a fitting conclusion to the album as a whole.
Five years have passed since we last had new material from Von Hausswolff but Iconoclasts demonstrates that time hasn’t been wasted. The best record of her career? Absolutely.
Buy the album here:
https://yr1.se/iconoclasts
9 / 10
REZA MILLS
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