2020 saw the release of three instrumental albums I am obsessed with to this day. All three were composed by supremely talented female artists, and all three were released over the course of one season. Autumn. Anna von Hausswolff's album came out in September. Mary Lattimore's album was released in October, and Faten Kanaan had her album out in November.
Anna von Hausswolff. "All Thoughts Fly" (2020).
Anna von Hausswolff. If this was a pseudonym, this could be the world's most pretentious pseudonym. As it happens, Anna von Hausswolff is the real name of this remarkable artist from Göteborg. She has been around for more than a decade now, and while the big critical breakthrough came with Dead Magic in 2018 (once looking at that cover, you will never forget it), her albums before that had been just as accomplished. Ambient, dense, majestically morose soundscapes for those who want their Gothic music burdened with depth and creativity.
For me, however, it all started with All Thoughts Fly. Seven pieces of colourful minimalism which are by turns scary and absolutely beautiful. The songs are called things like "Sacro Bosco" and "Persefone" - but, again, if that sounds pretentious, wait till you hear the music. Those titles do befit the music. Anna plays a huge pipe organ that dominates the sound and weaves striking images into your brain. To me, the highlight is "Dolore di Orsini" whose organ melody is like an epiphany stretched to four minutes. Truly, all thoughts fly and this is dark magic - but all the devils got the sense of beauty just right.
Mary Lattimore. "Silver Ladders" (2020).
The album opens in a mellow, almost lethargic manner that nevertheless manages to keep you completely engaged. The same pattern continues with the title song whose melody creates pastoral beauty virtually out of nothing. Which is typical of the whole album. A guitar line here, a harp ripple there, a heavy bass line in the distance - and you are enchanted. It is hard for me to say how many short stories and texts I have written while listening to this music. Silver Ladders is one of those albums which work both as a focused and a background listen.
Within the repetition and the minimalism, she is adventurous. When you take a piece like "Chop On The Climbout", you notice how expertly Mary juxtaposes a slightly sinister drone-like backbone with that lovely, hypnotic fingerpicking that almost sounds too fragile by comparison. Finally, the closing "Thirty Tulips" provides drama and tension and gets increasingly complex until the whole thing gets drowned in the sound of organ and tubular bells.
Faten Kanaan. "A Mythology of Circles" (2020).
Faten Kanaan is a little known artist from Brooklyn whose 2020 album might well be my favourite of the three. I think it only took me ten seconds of the choral singing that opens the record to get under her spell. Because if in case of Anna von Hausswolff it was a curse and in case of Mary Lattimore it was charm, then it has to be a spell in the case of Faten Kanaan. A most friendly, slightly mystical spell.
Repetitive choral/instrumental music with not a second wasted. Indeed, despite the minimalism, A Mythology of Circles is a very busy album. There is always something going on. There are build-ups and there is a remarkable sense of diversity in the way she constructs these textures with the help of the full spectre of mostly electronic keys. She is playful and she is inventive, and she knows exactly where she needs to release the tension. "Hesperides" in particular is a piece overflowing with two complete opposites: simplicity and complexity. The song, as well as this whole album, never quite understands which of the two it wants to achieve, and we as listeners should be grateful for that. This is strange, quietly astounding music.
This is the last piece from the last album. It is called "Ishtar Terra":
