anika – Get In Her Ears

An evocative, sonic form of resistance, ‘No Fly Zone’ is a fundraising collaboration between Iran-based musicians Ni Vash and Berlin-based musician Anika. Released via Invada Records, all profits from this track will go directly to support a UK-based charitable organisation – who have asked to remain anonymous – who are campaigning for human rights, women’s equality and against government oppression via demonstrations, conferences and publications, offering legal support to those in need.

Collectively know as Ni Vash – a Persian word for “renewal” or “regeneration” – the artists and musicians involved in the project have concealed their names for their own safety. They have worked alongside Anika to create ‘No Fly Zone’, a moving effort to remind listeners that “restrictions come in many forms” and it is our global responsibility to help break down the barriers that are holding others back. You can download the track via bandcamp here

‘No Fly Zone’ is a stirring, atmospheric uprising featuring the words of Anemone, Windflower, by poet Nasim Luczaj. The anemone is known as the “windflower” because its petals close when the plant detects advancing rainstorms. The plant’s natural instincts personify a very human reaction to fear, but on ‘No Fly Zone’, Luczaj’s calm, measured narration and Ni Vash & Anika’s hypnotic synth sounds gently over ride this instinct, quietly urging listeners to do the same.

Speaking about their new collaboration, Ni Vash explain: “In Iran or anywhere, people cannot fly, cannot see their dreams materialize, even through working hard or playing by the rules. Restrictions come in many forms, from without and from within – self or society, made by cultures, we are restricted. We are surrounded by voices without words, in a no fly zone. Join us in the fight for human rights. Join us in the fight against government oppression. This is a world-wide fight. This is your fight.”

Download ‘No Fly Zone’ and donate here.

Watch the video for the collaboration below.

Photo credit: Autumn Andel

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

Moving beyond the punishing sounds and default to doom-saying that’s often defined her previous work, Berlin-based musician Anika‘s new album Change is a more positive cut, possessing some of her most accessible work yet. Set for release via Sacred Bones & Invada Records on 23rd July, the album is not without its jagged, angsty moments, but on the whole it’s certainly a cleaner offering.

Fans of the musician’s existing output – a 2010 solo debut performed alongside Beak> and a string of releases with Exploded View – will recognise the blueprint of locked drum & bass grooves, noisy synths and Anika’s haunting voice floating above it with a cracked serenity that feels as though it could collapse into tears or hysterical laughter at any moment. The key sonic difference with Change is its polished quality, which lends a new refinement and approachability to Anika’s work. At times it feels a little too neat, lacking that terrifying, paint-stripping howl that makes for the best Exploded View tracks. Having said that, it opens up a new side to Anika, one that many will want to hear more from.

Anika reports that the words on Change were written largely “on the spot”, going some way to explaining the recourse to simple yet enigmatic refrains, felt most urgently on tracks like the thunderous opener ‘Finger Pies’ and the disquieting ‘Rights’. Her willingness to employ a smoother set of sounds allows for some unexpectedly great pop moments. ‘Critical’ is lead by a neat synth line that could have come straight from Jane Weaver’s Modern Cosmology, wonderfully plucking the song from the murk of a driving rhythm section.

‘Change’ is an excellent track, epitomising the huge shift Anika makes as an artist on this record. It offers a guarded optimism in its hedged refrain “I think we can change” and tempers the album’s concerns about the destructive nature of man, articulated on tracks like ‘Never Coming Back’ (inspired by Rachael Carson’s book Silent Spring and our destruction of the natural world), enabling us to find consolation in our agency as individuals to avert future consequences of human activity. It is telling that ‘Change’ is the eponymous track and that its central idea was chosen to be the defining theme of the album, creating room for a more sanguine outlook.

The album closes with ‘Wait for Something’, which, like ‘Change’, plays a crucial role in forging the overall mood of the piece. Emerging out of the claustrophobic terror of ‘Freedom’, we are encouraged to find solace in its vagueness, in the belief that some salvation will come, even if we cannot conceptualise the form it might take. People often draw the obvious and not entirely helpful comparison between Anika and Nico, but as the drums kick in here it feels more like we’re listening to the Velvet Underground’s Loaded, pushing us into the realm of unadulterated pop rock. Sitting on those flying keys and cymbal crashes, listeners can really feel the joyous optimism Anika seeks to leave them with.

Sonically drifting away from brutal electro-terror and thematically more positive than earlier efforts, Anika’s Change is an interesting transitional album in sound and spirit, not entirely comfortable in its optimism, but telling for its willingness to seek it out.

Follow Anika on bandcamp, Spotify, Twitter, Instagram & Facebook

Photo Credit: Sven Gutjahr

Lloyd Bolton
@lloyd_bolton

Tag: anika

LISTEN: Anika & Ni Vash ft. Nasim Luczaj – ‘No Fly Zone’

ALBUM: Anika – ‘Change’