“My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross” by ANOHNI and the Johnsons
A stunning example of how music can be used as poetic catharsis.
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Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is a stunning example of poetic catharsis, using pain and survival to build a safe space full of hope.
Genre: Alternative, Experimental
Label: Secretly Canadian
Release Date: July 7, 2023
Vibe: 😮
At its core, ANOHNI’s latest record, My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross, is about extending a hopeful hand that cuts through a swirl of anxiety and despair. It’s also her first record to name-check her band, the Johnsons, in over a decade, and one that, while often going for sparse, somber instrumentation, ratchets up the emotional stakes to a degree I wasn’t prepared for. Consider the opening tone-setter “It Must Change,” which wrings plenty of dramatic tension out of her repeating that three-word refrain over a sumptuous guitar lick and a relaxed backbeat. It builds to a point about halfway through, where she declares: “Your God is failing you, things must change/Giving you hell/The truth is that our love/Will ricochet through eternity.” That kind of stark admission, amplified by the singer’s smoky vocal tonality, cuts through familiar notes of doom-mongering and, instead of stabbing you in the back for it, envelopes you in a warm caress. It’s a deceptively fine (and challenging) line to walk, but ANOHNI does it with ease.
It’s the first of several breathtaking moments on this record. There’s the devastation of “Can’t,” where the singer longs for her beloved to rise from the dead and “come back home,” and the outright rejection of expectations of complicity on “Why Am I Alive Now?” And yet, for all the pain this album works through, it’s a soulful meditation on the vitality and tenacity of the human spirit. The cover art, featuring a portrait of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, serves as an additional reminder to her audience that, even in the face of mounting odds, real change, one that encompasses realizing inclusive dreams for us all, may still be possible. In the digital liner notes, ANOHNI mentions she thought a lot about Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” while making this record. Like that opus, the performances here combine to pack a powerful punch.
It’s easily one of 2023’s best releases.
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈