Nearly anything on the Sacred Bones label has a rich sound. The question then is what else does an artist on that label bring. Anika, thankfully, delivers something fairly warm on Change, her new album.
When you hear something like "Change" or "Critical", you're going to reach for comparison points like Goldfrapp or solo recordings from Laetitia Sadier. Where Anika, of Exploded View, diverges from those artists is in how she makes her songs take root from her warm vocals, even as the instrumentation retains an icy futuristic vibe around them. While "Wait for Something" near the end of the album stands out for being fairly simple, most of Change is deeply layered, with the production taking on real weight. A highlight like "Freedom" even works up a bit of menace. However, the melodies here are fairly nondescript and same-y, enough that one needs to give high marks to Anika for her voice and overall presentation more than for any one fairly routine song.
Change is out on Friday via Sacred Bones.
More details on Anika via the Facebook page.
[Photo: Sven Gutjahr]