Album Review- Anika

 Another 2021 find for me is Anika. While I was not familiar with her, she is a British/German political journalist turned musician whose debut disc came out in 2011 and was championed by Portishead.

It’s not that she disappeared for a decade, she’s been a DJ, collaborated with Tricky, ILIKETRAINS and Shackleton, and led the band Exploded View.

The new album Change is her first solo work since that debut. That it is released on Sacred Bones is a good sign, since that label puts out so much quality product.

Every review ultimately seems to compare her to Nico. There is a reason for that, but regardless of the accent,stylistically you can’t get a much better comparison. Of course, there would be no Portishead without Nico, so it checks out.

If you step back a bit, there is a bit of a circa 1979-81 vibe and that is not only the British post punk movement (PiL, Wire, Gang of Four, The Slits, the Pop Group and so on), but simultaneously shows influence from the New York No Wave scene and other bands that were influenced by Suicide.

The title track is the masterpiece here. Surely, one of the best songs here, a straight up Portishead/Massive Attack style electronica. Although most songs follow that path, songs like Freedom and Rights are heavy enough in sound that they would fit unnoticed on an industrial music mix.

Recommended then for those who are still intrigued by the goth side of the Velvets, as well as those who loved the early 00s when Boards of Canada, DJ Shadow and Add N to X were the future of music.