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IcCM_131012 [midiextract]

When asked to describe the circumstances that influenced her beautifully fraught new work, Berlin-based musician Annika Henderson—better known simply as Anika—quickly articulates a set of feelings and unpredictable circumstances that are familiar to anyone who tried to make art—or simply tried to live through—the recent global pandemic. “It’s a moment caught in time,” she says of Change, her much-anticipated new record. Given that it has been 11 years since the release of her last solo album, 2010 cult-favorite Anika, the artist suddenly found herself with a lot to say. “This album had been planned for a little while and the circumstances of its inception were quite different to what had been expected. This colored the album quite significantly. The lyrics were all written there on the spot. It’s a vomit of emotions, anxieties, empowerment, and of thoughts like—How can this go on? How can we go on?”

Having worked collaboratively in the past with the likes of BEAK> and Mexico City’s Exploded View, Change was ultimately the product of necessity. “After recording the initial ideas alone at Klangbild studios in Berlin, a few months later and by some stroke of luck, Mr. Martin Thulin of Exploded View, managed to make his way over from Mexico, to co-produce the album with me and play some live drums and bass,” recalls Anika. “Between Reality Baitz and Impression Recordings in Berlin, we managed to get the album together.

The intimacy of its creation and a palpable sense of global anxiety are seemingly baked into the DNA of Change. Spread across nine tracks, the central feeling of the record is one of heightened frustration buoyed by guarded optimism. The songs offer skittering, austere electronic backdrops reminiscent of classic Broadcast records or High Scores-era Boards of Canada, playing them against Anika’s remarkable voice—Nico-esque, beautifully plaintive, and—in regards to the record’s subject matter—totally resolute. Incantatory tracks like “Naysayer” and “Never Coming Back” are both, as Anika explains them, both a call to arms and a warning. “Never Coming Back” was written after reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring,” she explains. “I was living in the old East countryside outside of Berlin, where there seemed to be no shortage of birds. Apparently their numbers have dropped significantly, but it is one of these changes that we never really stop and notice. We take things for granted, until it’s too late. With all this other noise going on, care for the environment has quickly been moved to the back-burner. So long as we get what we want NOW and on demand, who cares about whether we are taking care of the future?”

Change

ambient_atmosphere_test_structure

StudioJam_120523. 
Torso T-1 is sequencing the ASM Hydrasynth and Pigments (Arturia) in Ableton. Reverb with Rooms (Death by Audio). In the background; drone soundscape and drums from some of my tracks in Ableton.
check the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9sVNlwRnUI

Interference II (extract)

A3 - Les fêtes

B2 - Veux-tu

 Cirque du Psycho custom sounds, patterns, and my vocals

Skyway

La feuille sage [Premaster]

electronic avant-pop track from the 2025 EP FERAL DIGITAL ANIMAL by vaste.

special thanks to Ed Chang (@momo17) for noise samples 

lyrics:

Well I fall into haze 
On my bad days
And I can’t explain
The rain’s been knocking

Like a mouse in the mall
I go unseen amongst the people 
At their feet
Like a mouse in the mall
I bide my time before the poison sets in

I’d rather be no one than someone like you
Keep it all cold like snow in the middle of J-J-June
Always been a rat in the back 
Packed out in my vintage crew
Fashion toxic:
Algae Bloom

Well I dive into a craze
On my mad days
And I can’t explain the pain’s
Stayed locked in

Like a mouse in the mall
I go unseen amongst the people
At their feet

Like a mouse in the mall
I bide my time before the poison
(Ok)

I’d rather be no one than someone like you Keep it all cold like snow in the middle of J-J-June
Always been a rat in the back
Packed out in my vintage crew
Fashion toxic:
Algae bloom

ALGAE BLOOM

"Roses Got Blades" by Vaste is an experimental electronic avant-pop song.
Thank you for listening 🩶 grateful for each like, comment, & repost 🪳

Lyrics:
Don’t leave the door open
Lock that shit closed
Come & get close

No need to add another
Only if you wanna
I’m your favorite lover

All my roses they got blades
You should go why have you stayed,
Stay

Just leave the door open
(Leave the door open)
Don’t need it closed
Let ‘em look close

We need to go another
Cause I know you wanna
I’m your favorite lover

All my roses they got blades
You should go why have you stayed
Stay—

All my roses they got blades
You should go why have you stayed
Stay—

La feuille sage [Premaster]

TréPein

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