CD – Constellation

This is the debut solo album from Swedish vocalist, composer and producer, Erika Angell. Resident in Montreal for over a decade, Angell is a musician who escapes characterisation, with sixteen independently produced albums and countless collaborations ranging from jazz to indie rock, from opera to electronic noise. Within this inexhaustible desire to cross different genres and for collaboration, the ten tracks of The Obsession With Her Voice embrace multiple approaches. They move from orchestral scores supported by a penetrating and refined vocality – in ‘Dress Of Stillness’ for example – to more improvisational or monologuing passages, stuffed with harsh and jolting electronics. The album is configured as a fascinating sound collage, an intimate journey that takes us back to the origins of the artist’s musical vocation. On ‘One’ and ‘Temple’, Angell constructs sonic architectures that are poetic sculptures, her voice exploring the many facets of identity and internal conflict. Jonathan Cayer’s labyrinthine string arrangements create a dense, enveloping texture, while Mili Hong’s incandescent drum improvisations add an element of unpredictability and urgency. Particularly notable is ‘Never Tried to Run’, where Angell invokes the vocal influences of Nina Hagen, Angell’s childhood idol, creating a track that explores the theme of change with sinuous and sensual sounds, while ‘Up My Sleeve’ vibrates with an eerie mundanity, conjuring images of a singer in a state of emergency watching the flames rise. The production, curated by Angell herself with the collaboration of Sam Woywitka, shines for its ability to blend seemingly irreconcilable elements: the voice, whispered, shouted, immerses itself in landscapes of noise and percussion, tracing melodies of fearless complexity. ‘German Singer’ represents one of the most paradigmatic moments of the work, narrating a concert through elaborate vocal fragments and metronomic impulses, transforming itself into a tribute to the value of art and its power of seduction. This is precisely the distinctive feature of the entire work: the ability to be simultaneously experimental and deeply emotional, intellectually stimulating and viscerally engaging. With this solo debut, Erika Angell confirms herself as one of the most original and courageous voices on the contemporary scene, capable of blending feminist power and experimental exploration in a work that is not afraid to show itself as vulnerable and authentic.

 

Erika Angell – The Obsession With Her Voice