ANIKA - Abyss

Over the span of fifteen years, the time frame during which Anika has released three projects, the Anglo-German journalist and singer has continually changed her stylistic clothing, moving from the minimal-wave-dark of her debut “Anika” to the spoken-word/trip-hop of “Change” (released eleven years after her first album), before finally arriving at the noise-electronic cacophony of her new album “Abyss”.

The one constant is the lyrics: determined, scalding, the product of a propensity for denunciation and a raw, rebellious language.

Recorded live at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, with the complicity of trusted collaborator Martin Thulin, her partner in crime in Exploding View, the album is musically inspired by Courtney Love, but also by the complete works of Patti Smith and by the irreverent genius of Genesis P-Orridge.

Grunge, punk, dub and noise-rock are the musical guidelines of a record that, despite everything, has a melodic malleability that softens its roughest edges with pop surges (“Walk Away”) and folk-noir moments (“Into The Fire”). Besides Anika and Thulin, the album features Andrea Belfi (drums), Tomas Nochteff (bass) and Lawrence Goodwin (guitar); conspicuously absent are synths, which would have been of no use to the direct physicality of “Abyss”.

Anika attacks the power of the media in the brazen “Hearsay”, addresses toxic relationships in the rock-psych of “Honey”, or Berlin and fascist resurgences in “One Way Ticket”, with a mix of gritty riffs and intimidating lyrics that never quite move beyond a pleasant predictability. On top of that, Anika's vocal abilities, neither exceptional nor particularly distinctive, further dilute the potential of “Abyss”.

Overwhelming (“Oxygen”), unpredictable (“Out Of The Shadows”) and moving (“Buttercups”), Anika's new album is a project that fans of PJ Harvey, Breeders and Pixies will find interesting. Yet the feeling remains that, despite the genuinely good intuitions found in some of its songs, the record lacks the qualities needed to withstand the relentless judgement of time.

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14/04/2025