Exploded View is the eponymous first album from vocalist Annika Henderson, whom some will remember from her album Anika, in partnership with Crocodiles producer Martin Thulin, Robota’s Hugo Quezada, and Hector Melgarejo, best known for his work with Jessy Bulbo and Nos llamamos. Across eleven tracks they combine some very familiar elements, specifically aspects of Krautrock, post-punk, and post-rock, into a surprisingly rewarding whole; the record’s out on vinyl, compact disc, and digital August 19 through Sacred Bones.
Prior to her emergence as a recording artist Annika Henderson was a political journalist. Alternating time between Berlin and Bristol UK, she connected with Geoff Barrow of Portishead as he was on the lookout for a new vocalist for his side-project Beak>; their ensuing studio meeting proceeded so swimmingly that a full-length and EP resulted.
Dropping a consonant along the way, 2010’s Anika and ’13’s “Anika EP” revealed a mutual interest in post-punk, dub, and ’60’s girl groups, and their covers-heavy reality, featuring Twinkle’s “Terry,” Yoko’s “Yang Yang,” Shocking Blue’s “Love Buzz,” The Crystals’ “He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss),” Ray Davies’ “I Go to Sleep,” and Dylan’s “Masters of War” exuded an appealing lack of grandiosity wedded to seriousness of intent, an aspect enhanced by her Nico-ish inflection.
The choice to focus predominantly on borrowed material was a potential double-edged sword, however; eminently listenable, they were also easy records to underrate. This circumstance is unlikely to reoccur with Exploded View, the outfit springing to life in a fairly spontaneous manner as Thulin, Quezada, and Melgarejo comprised the backing band for Anika’s 2014 performances in Mexico; in a manner somewhat recalling her hook up with Barrow and Beak>, the collab went down so well they choose to decamp to the studio for recording.
The subsequent sessions were reportedly steered by improvisation and captured “straight to tape.” Without dwelling upon the background of the LP’s formation, the selections register as actual songs rather than the sort of stretched-out ideas that can often occur in an on-the-fly situation; when absorbed together they are impressively cohesive as an album.
But giving the contents a closer inspection with improv in mind does illuminate aspects and shadings of the method in operation; akin to much of the record to follow, opener “Lost Illusions” is largely based upon rhythmic repetition, though the vibe at this juncture falls decidedly closer to post-rock than to the dancefloor. Anika’s vocal delivery glides atop, consistently hovering in the zone between speaking and singing as her tone and accent avoid the aura of lyrics being randomly dropped into an impromptu musical setting.
Jumping into a recording session with three individuals known for their work as producers could’ve easily spawned an unfortunate outcome, but that’s not the case here. The gradually paced “One Too Many” is anchored by mildly dubby bass and accented by clanging-stinging guitar lines, Euro-chilly vox and injections of post-punk keyboard, but instead of these ingredients clashing or feeling grafted on their integration is harmonious.
Exploding View also exhibit range without strain, with full-on dance number “Orlando” providing strategically-placed spark to the disc; hearty drumming and fluid bass are the engine as keyboard and synth swirl and glisten and Anika’s vocal completes an edgy synth-pop vibe easily transcending the norm for this frankly overabundant genre.
“Orlando”’s title references the recent mass shooting in a Florida night club, and while it was recorded in 2014, the nod to current events still carries substantial weight, in part due to the politically committed background of Anika and her cohorts (Thulin and Melgarejo’s collaborator Bulbo has been described by NPR as “Mexico’s official Riot Grrl”).
Anika’s prior album and EP have been assessed as launching from a 99 Records/ No Wave platform, and that’s right on the money. Exploded View mostly downplays the NYC thing and to an extent the Germanic angle as well, though a Krautrock-ish throb is the foundation of “Call On the Gods”; near the end it jump cuts into brief bit of lower-mixed post-punk as Anika’s lyrical looseness suggests a bit of extemporization.
This is additionally a component in “Disco Glove,” the rhythmically forceful multilayered post-rock highlight wielding an effective slice of spoken-text, her words edited and repeated but mixed at a level where this isn’t immediately apparent. The following “Stand Your Ground,” is built upon a somewhat trip-hoppy beat (but kicked out with tangible gusto on a real kit) and reinforces a ‘90s atmosphere, while the disc’s first single “No More Parties in the Attic” conjures hectic dub-laced post-punk that sounds like it could be a tight fit with Adrian Sherwood.
“Lark Descending” detours from rhythmic matters into a slow psychedelic drift that accentuates but doesn’t overplay Anika’s natural similarity to Nico, and “Gimme Something” returns to big beat territory and enhances it with rolling bass notes, growing guitar clamor and sturdy vocalizing. It’s in the final two cuts, the brief “Beige” and considerably lengthier “Killjoy,” that the improvisational nature becomes more palpable, with both instances pertaining to Anika’s lyrics.
In the former, her words directly branch off from those of “Gimme Something” as the band whips up a cyclical grind around her. In the latter, after an ample instrumental buildup she singsongs a tidy couplet (“You’re a killjoy/ little boy”) to fine effect and then uses it as a springboard for a spot of late loquaciousness. The instrumentation leads to a tasty bit of racket just prior to the finish. With this album Exploded View have sidestepped the pitfalls of calculation without falling victim to the slapdash, and have set up an interesting scenario going forward.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
