ANOHNI - HOPELESSNESS (May 6, 2016) Album • Page 3

Not a fan of the Obama track but I really enjoy the rest. I "get" it, at the very least

 

After seeing a lot of buzz about this, and admittedly finding the Pitchfork review very curiosity inducing, I decided to give this another shot today after dismissing it after only hearing "Drone Bomb Me" and thinking this wasn't for me.

I agree with @Kyle is hk that 4 Degrees and Why Did You Separate Me from the Earth? are the strongest tracks on this record because of the ability to balance the sound and the nuance of strong lyricism.

The music of this album is immense, intriguing, and very satisfying. The risks, blending of styles, incorporating unexpected instruments, and things of that like are definitely top notch.

I also don't find the on-the-nose lyrics to be off-putting or jarring as many of you seem to be suggesting. But, I also think the vocal delivery really, really hurts any sort of message she is trying to get across. I continuously found myself focusing more on the music than the lyrical message because many of the songs seemed to lose intelligibility in pronunciation.

I don't buy into the argument that you have to read the lyrics along with a song to get its message. That's not how music works. If the message isn't clear in music without any additional work involved, the music isn't achieving as much as it could be.

I was very intrigued by the circumstances and the message of this album. A transgender woman speaking out against violence, patriarchy, failed politicians, etc. was always going to be an interesting message that was important to check out. But now that I'm through with the album, I remember the music more than the message.

Not to mention, "Obama" may be the worst track of 2016 thus far.

 

I think the vocals are my favourite part.

 

No one said you have to read the lyrics. If you are having trouble actually identifying the words in the songs I'm not sure what to tell you because I think you're the only one with that specific problem.

 

Multiple people in this thread have expressed needing to see the lyrics to help sort out their opinion of this album. Shrug.

 

One person said he needed the lyrics to have a more informed opinion. That's not exactly an uncommon comment or one specific to this record. No one said they can't understand her and I find her to be extremely easy to understand honestly.

 

So my question now is, would 4 Degrees be improved if it replaced the "four degrees" in the chorus with just straight up "global warming?" (syllable count aside). Both make the same bold, important, clear point. The latter does it it in the more jarring "attention-throttling" way most of you prefer. Is that preferable to the more appealing (imo) "four degrees" since it's more explicit?

I hate to keep harping on the same point, I hope I'm not coming off as combative I just think it's an interesting discussion. I want to make sure my point is NOT that the message should be toned down, but the words more skillfully crafted.

 

There's room for both styles of lyrics imo.

 

I basically disagree completely. Don't find anything unintelligible and I'm not sure what the solution would be for the other problem. Make less interesting music so the lyrics are the only memorable thing? The message has definitely been the most enduring thing for me so

 

Yeah I find her extremely easy to understand

 

I guess I shouldn't be surprised but you probably don't need to be criticizing the lyrics unless you're actually directly involved with the issues being addressed.

 

Well to be fair the content isn't what's being criticized. And also she's not directly involved in at least one of the major themes herself (drones), so

 

Calling it "too on the nose" is criticizing the content. I know that's why I'm saying if say someone who has been affected by drones criticized the lyrics, it would actually carry some weight so

 

The first time I listened to Drone Bomb Me I thought the lyrical style was weird and a little different to styles that I am more used to but I think the straightforwardness of the lyrics and the delivery enhances the meaning behind them in a pull no punches way. You can very clearly hear her pain and anguish behind the words and I think abstracting that would take away from the gut punch of this record. Just my two cents tho.

 

The thing about this record is it's really good. The lyrics being "jarring" or whatever is a good thing because it brings more attention to the message.

 

It's been like 3 days and I'm already tired of people's hot takes on this album.

Also, why is Obama the go to track to hate? It's so ominous

 

Can you elaborate on this? Because I feel the themes on this album are pretty universal to all types of people? I can't criticize songs about climate change, american imperialism, or drones?

 

I have mixed feelings about this, but it's hard to ignore that some of these songs are really beautiful.

Why did you separate me from the earth is definitely my favorite.

 

The lyrics are far from intelligible, I only said I wanted to see the lyrics because I didnt catch everything the first time through

It's beautiful, bought it today and feel like ppl should support this

 

Might have phrased a little oddly, I think she's addressing a lot of these issues in a way that only someone who feels very disfranchised can. I haven't listened enough to really form a complete opinion on the politics in this and the perspectives its using but at the very least I think calling it "too direct" when it's positioning itself as a record about extremely violent, and personal experiences is strange.

This is to say that while you have knowledge of drones, again can't get into the politics of the song just yet, but ANOHNI is adopting the perspective of someone who is being attacked by drones. Calling this too direct is missing the point of the narrative entirely. This is especially disrespectful for me when ANOHNI is addressing things that she is actually very directly affected by like patriarchal violence; to call her lyrics about that "too blunt" seems to dismiss the urgency of her words. She's trying to convey a message as simply and directly as possible, that seems imperative for the listener to understand her/for social progress/for her own life and for the lives of the voices she is embodying

 

I love this album. 8.5/10

From its content to its expression in music, it was perfectly executed. I think people need to think of art as the process by which individuals attempt to use their subjective expressions to map for themselves and for others their world, their expreriences and juxtapose them to dominant cultural representations, and to a lesser or greater degree, some people are successful. I think this was a rousing success; the value isn't necessarily in a marginalized person producing as such, but in their ability to draw in the materials of the world, such as drone bombing and the shared experienced of being targeted, to produce a cultural artifact that makes those experiences haunt you in a manner of speaking. Anyway, I'll stop being so effusive. The album is really good is what I'm saying.

 

yo i just discovered this

 

Was referred to this album by a friend. I've listened to it twice today and both times I fell more in love with it. It's my first time experiencing Anohni and I'm just blown away by her voice and the production work on here.

 

fallen for this lately

 

Emphasis on late