Anna von Hausswolff's debut EP "Track of Time" was released in February 2010 by Kning Disk, magnificent avant-garde pop with its crosshairs trained on the heart. The first album "Singing From the Grave" appeared in May. Everyone who hears Anna von Hausswolff sing, immediately stops, listens and gets touched by her magic. Her voice is that of total expression. Sometimes it caresses you, sometimes it roars up a storm.
On July 9, 2013 "Ceremony" was released in North America by Other Music Recording Co., and Anna von Hausswolff played her debut US show on July 10 at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn. The album received strong support from National Public Radio's Bob Boilen, who said "Von Hausswolff's voice possesses the power to soar with those mighty pipes and still hold tight to delicate, personal emotions. I hope to find one album like Ceremony every year — a rare, thoughtful, inspiring record for a night on the couch or a candlelit evening — and now I've got one for 2013." She was also featured on NPR Weekend Edition Saturday, PRI's The World, WNYC Soundcheck, the New York Times, Pitchfork and more.
Ceremony was followed up by "The Miraculous" late in 2015.
Large pipe organs first started to be built in European churches in the 14th century. While much of the music that people at the time heard and played would be dedicated to the glory of God, surely nothing could have prepared them for the sound that now filled their places of worship. As the solemn timbre of the metallic pipes echoed around the stony transept, the congregation must have trembled in their pews before this new instrument of the Almighty. More than ever, the organ turned the church into a place of "mystery, magic and terror".
These are the words that Anna von Hausswolff uses to describe the undisclosed location in rural Sweden that inspired The Miraculous, a place of great natural beauty that nevertheless remains haunted by the blood-stained spectres of a brutally suppressed peasant uprising. Using the 9,000 pipe Acusticum Pipe Organ, Hausswolff has conjured an entire world into being here, forging a unity between reality and imagination that's so immense in its conception that it's initially difficult to properly take in. It's like a gigantic monument that you have to keep stepping back from in order to get any perspective on it.
The sleeve alone should clue the listener to the fact that there's nothing here as heart-stoppingly lovely as 'Mountains Crave' from 2012's Ceremony: Hausswolff appears as a faceless apparition, an erased portrait sitting in a derelict room with faded pictures of Christ and angels on the walls. The elemental vastness of the sound recalls the aesthetic of Swans, while Nico is another key reference point, one woman communing with herself and the world via a droning, medieval keyboard. But The Miraculous certainly isn't all existential gloom and despair. Instead, its sense of dread is offset throughout by a yearning to break free of mortal bonds and become immanent in nature.
'Discovery' immediately sets the tone, a foghorn blast of bass pipes suggesting that something huge is approaching in the dark. A thick wave of organ slowly seeps into every corner of the audio field, before a skirling siren call and the military drums of battles past introduce notes of tension and conflict. It breaks down to the sounds of aftermath from which a spare Morricone-esque guitar line emerges. When Hausswolff finally starts to sing, her voice is strong as she bears witness, but soon the words start to tumble out with growing urgency, and then she's chanting "Run!/Run!/Run to the sun!"
This epic opener is followed by two shorter tracks. 'The Hope Only Of Empty Men' sounds like it's being transmitted from some point in the distant past, Hausswolff's syllables twisted and tortured as they leave her mouth, while the organ pulses like a hangover. 'Pomperipossa' is an awestruck blast of ecclesiastical prog full of unnerving chord changes.
But it's the eleven minute sturm und drang of 'Come Wander With Me/Deliverance' that's the album's massive centrepiece. A slow, sepulchral organ melody is joined by the beautiful controlled tone of Hausswolff's lonely choir girl. There's a great segue into a lumbering procession of the damned which then consolidates into a hammering one chord riff over an increasingly martial beat. Hausswolff sings, "He came from the sunset / He came from the sea / He came from the shadows…" like Elizabeth Fraser on the rack, before dissolving into wordless cries of ecstasy or pain, who knows. Cue guitar solo, and then a little sit down to recover.
It's hard to imagine where to go after that, but another three short tracks pick up the album's themes. 'En Ensam Vandrare' is based on the type of brooding but meditative arpeggios that inevitably bring Philip Glass to mind, while 'An Oath' is a ballad sung against marching drums again. And then 'Evocation' is a summoning up of everything that's gone before, the density of the sound plus the inflection in Hausswolff's voice making me wonder if this is what Sunn O))) recording with Abba would sound like. There's a minute of static and feedback ascending and then disappearing into the sky, and it feels like a natural ending–
But no. 'The Miraculous' itself is an extended drone piece, a gradual layering of chords on the organ as though it's slowly waking up from a deep slumber. Hausswolff's voice drifts over the top, her faceless spirit moving through the pipes, the organ's high notes like swooning strings and brass. Final track 'Stranger' is perhaps the most 'traditional' and romantic song here, a plea for absolution with twanging guitar.
This album is a pretty astonishing piece of work. Hausswolff has pushed out into unmapped territory where post-rock, prog, doom metal, modern classical and high church music all co-exist in uneasy alliance. It's the type of album you have to commit to completely, but for those seeking a glimpse of the numinous, it's worth the effort.
March 2018 sees the release of Anna's fourth album - "Dead Magic", and was preceded by the single "The Vanishing of Elektra" and in the run up to the albums release its first track "The Truth, The Glow, The Fall" was officially released as an audio onto YouTube.
Official site: http://www.annavonhausswolff.com
Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/annavonhausswolff
Deathbed
Anna von Hausswolff Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I gave all, I gave in for your best
He fumbles and trembles over land
The power love had over that dying man
He wishes and desires that his depth
Will be paid, made good and redressed
To freely forgive those who did wrong
To pardon God for everything i've done.
The lyrics of "Deathbed" by Anna von Hausswolff are a reflection on death and forgiveness. The lyrics suggest that the dying man is reflecting on his life and is questioning whether he can forgive those who have wronged him and forgive God for everything he has done. The opening line, "Will you take back, you take back what you said?" suggests that the dying man is grappling with the idea of forgiveness and wondering if he can truly forgive those who have hurt him in the past.
The phrase, "I gave all, I gave in for your best," suggests that the dying man has given everything he has to someone he loves in the hope that it would be for their benefit. The line, "He fumbles and trembles over land" suggests that the dying man is struggling to come to grips with his mortality and is unsteadily approaching the end of his life. The lyrics also suggest that the power of love has had a profound impact on his life, and that he hopes that he can be forgiven for any wrongs he has committed.
The line "To pardon God for everything I've done" suggests that the dying man feels that he has done wrong, and that he is seeking forgiveness from a higher power. Overall, the lyrics of "Deathbed" suggest that the dying man is grappling with the idea of forgiveness and the complexities of the human experience, particularly on the precipice of death.
Line by Line Meaning
Will you take back, you take back, what you said?
Are you willing to retract your previous statement?
I gave all, I gave in for your best
I sacrificed everything for your benefit
He fumbles and trembles over land
He struggles and shakes while traversing through life
The power love had over that dying man
The hold that love had on the man as he neared death
He wishes and desires that his depth
His fervent desire is that his soul is redeemed
Will be paid, made good and redressed
His soul will be restored and deserving of goodness
To freely forgive those who did wrong
To pardon those who have sinned against him
To pardon God for everything I've done.
To forgive himself and make amends with God
OH NO...
An expression of despair or fear
Writer(s): VON HAUSSWOLFF ANNA MICHAELA EBBA
Contributed by Brody O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@AMBUSH6666
Will you take back, you take back, what you said?
I gave all, I gave in for your best
He fumbles and trembles over land
The power love had over that dying man
He wishes and desires that his depth
Will be paid, made good and redressed
To freely forgive those who did wrong
To pardon God for everything i've done.
@ene_lo
Will you take back, take back, what you said?
I gave all, I gave in for your best
He fumbles and trembles over land
The power love had over that dying man
He wishes and desires that his depth
Will be paid, made good and redressed
To freely forgive those who did wrong
To pardon God for everything I've done
Oh, no
@WaaDoku
This song makes me wanna see the sunrise just one more time.
@leonardovillegas1119
Anna slaps seriously, her music is like combining Pink Floyd with Dead Can Dance and Diamanda Galas.
@pitfisch1
And a pinch of Kate Bush ...
@fischkekskreistoast4914
And Black Sabbath.
@Itbunnygirl
thanks to your comment i think i've just discovered one of my fav songs
@gab_lara
and a splash of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
@TranscendentFrequencies
One of the best songs I ever heard.
@marapons4307
Profondamente Oltre, superlativ
@AMBUSH6666
Will you take back, you take back, what you said?
I gave all, I gave in for your best
He fumbles and trembles over land
The power love had over that dying man
He wishes and desires that his depth
Will be paid, made good and redressed
To freely forgive those who did wrong
To pardon God for everything i've done.
@Brahams
Ceremony is a masterpiece.