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Anna von Hausswolff, the gem of Sweden's Experimental Pop scene, is only as difficult to describe musically as she is relentless in her pursuit of uncompromising creation of deep wells of emotion and meaning in her compositions.
To say that Von Hausswolff's music is Darkwave or Goth revival, takes away from the Neoclassical, Drone and Experimental sides that mirror and counter-define every movement. Shirking easy identification is almost an acknowledgement by the artist herself that the music exists somewhere between music and black magic; the modern and the tribal; the mind and the spirit; or, to drive home the juxtaposition that is "Dead Magic", life and death.
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| Anna von Hausswolff 2016. Photos by Pedro Roque. |
Much of the unique sonic foundation of the album stems from the organ used and recorded on site, captured using the 20th century organ at Copenhagen’s "Marble Church", Marmorkirken, one of the largest churches in Scandinavia and center of the Frederiksstaden district in the capitol.
The production of Dead Magic was handled by Seattle based Randall Dunn (Master Musicians of Bukkake), renown for his production work with iconic acts such as Sunn O))), Earth, Boris, Kayo Dot, Myrkur and Wolves in the Throne Room (whose recent album, Thrice Woven, Anna von Hausswolff contributed vocals to).
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| Anna von Hausswolff 2016. Photos by Pedro Roque. |
Anna von Hausswolff is most recognizable by her powerful and evocative voice, the kind of which you only hear a few in your lifetime. She uses this power to remind the listener of the magic that once resided in the spaces between our everyday, even in the mundane.
Music was magic, the changing of the seasons, the experiencing of snow on naked skin, squishing mud through our toes, magic was all around us. The death of magic, rooted in the death of perhaps our awareness, our connection with our past or our nature. The polarizing of all that we are, hope and despair, all that survives is here in Anna von Hausswolff's three movement, five songs.
The truth, the glow, the fall. Knowledge and fear of the unknown. Power and fear of death. A greeting and the fear of being forgotten.