Anna Von Hausswolff – Dead Magic
Anna Von Hauswolff's fourth effort is obvious, unoriginal and so, so boring
Dead Magic, Anna Von Hausswolff’s fourth album, is emblematic of the worst kind of turgid, over-serious, over-long, pretentious misery-fest regularly turned out by individuals and groups who consider themselves “serious” artists. This album makes Godspeed You! Black Emperor look like The 1975.
Von Hausswolff is a supremely talented singer and organist. Her voice is fit to soundtrack epic films and dramatic, sweeping landscapes, but too often on this record it descends into self-indulgent, melodramatic screaming and clichéd, self-parodic lyrics. Similarly, her organ playing is impressive but she often overshoots the gothic aesthetic and lands among the Addams Family.
Abandoning all pop sensibilities and indulging in long track-times, extended instrumentals and eye-wateringly pretentious song titles can, occasionally, yield stunning results. Dead Magic, though, is utterly derivative of the very few albums in this genre ever to succeed, and lacks all of their spark and life. Above all else it is unbearably, irredeemably boring.
Listen to: Ugly and Vengeful