Anika – Abyss

I’ll admit I had never heard of the Berlin-based Anika, until this latest album, Abyss, was sent to me through the music PR world. At first listen, I heard an onslaught of screaming guitars, thundering bass, crashing drums, and Anika’s thick spectral voice. It’s a very gnarly 90s grunge /alt rock sounding album, and after listening to a bit of Anika’s previous work, I learned, completely different from her usual stuff.

Anika comes from more of an electronic dub world, but decided to completely shift gears for Abyss, deciding to pretty much leave the synth (save for a few tracks) behind to exchange it for a more classic rock band setup. I’ll say that this new sound is much attuned to my ears, but many of these songs feel rather sameish. The first three all have the same dark tenacity, with pushed back mixed lyrics about fake news, societal loathing and other chaos of the world—and kind of all meld together.

Anika’s voice is quite singular, feeling to me a bit like Bjork, Cate Le Bon, or Nena, but because her register basically stays the same throughout Abyss, I had a hard time picking out any standout track, besides “One Way Ticket.” That song is quite catchy, with its post-punk walk down bass and blaring lead guitars, as Anika waxes poetic about the rise and hopeful death of fascism. Perhaps these Abyss songs have a bit more juice to them live, which we can see firsthand in late September at La Sala Rossa.