Anohni’s favourite album of the past 25 years
Anohni‘s place in music is a vital one. After being spotted by Lou Reed and supported as if they were the heir to his throne, her voice is one that shatters hearts, drops jaws and pierces right through to the soul. Reed saw that instantly, and year after year, the rest of the world also kept learning it. As so many artists look up to Anohni for her integration of music, art, and politics and her forerunning visionary style, she also looks up to people before her.
Her musical output has always been incredibly diverse. At the start, the band Anohni and the Johnsons leaned into art pop and baroque as Anohni brought in a vast array of collaborators. There was also her involvement with Hercules and Love Affair as she lent her voice to five disco-infused tracks from the New York collective’s self-titled record. For her solo project, she expanded into the worlds of electro, ambient and a whole host of left-field sounds, creating a sound that was utterly unique.
As an artist, a figure, and a friend, Anohni is linked to many legends of the game. She’s worked with the likes of Rufus Wainwright, Björk, and Neneh Cherry, and featured on albums celebrating names like Leonard Cohen or routinely honouring her mentor Lou Reed.
So, when it comes to picking her favourite album of the 21st century, the options could have been endless. With such broad and eclectic taste and a vested interest in the careers of so many, it surely would have been a hard selection.
But her opinion is born out of her belief over who is and should be leading the way in music. As a passionate voice for transgender and gay rights, equality in all forms and liberation for all oppressed minorities, Anohni believes music is a tool in that fight. “I look to Indigenous artists and female visionaries,” she said of her guiding lights, including Buffy Sainte-Marie, the artist she picks out as her favourite.
“My favourite album from the last 25 years is Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Power in the Blood,” she said as she selected the 2015 record for Pitchfork. “One of the many things I so admire about Buffy is her relentless positivity, combined with her willingness to look clearly at the past and the present, no matter how brutal the landscape, and name it,” she continued. The same could definitely be said of Anohni’s own music as her most recent record, My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, featured an image of trans pioneer Marsha P Johnson on the cover and dedicated many tracks to global causes or vital history lessons. In this way, she sees Buffy Sainte-Marie as a kind of teacher, stating, “She is one of the great elders in North American music.”
Sainte-Marie’s record is sonically very different from Anohni’s style as it leans more into classic and heavier rock. But for the singer, it’s not about Sainte-Marie’s sound; it’s about her message and her existence within the industry.
“Buffy is one of the people I am relying on to help me understand how to move forward as an artist and as a human being,” she explained. Now, more than ever, Anohni seems to believe in the power of media and the importance of considering what music or art you consume and who created it. “I try to avoid the voices of billionaires,” she said. “A billion dollars is only ever stolen. Billionaires, be they artists, executives, or politicians, inevitably ask me to swallow their poisonous storytelling, and right now, only clear storytelling helps me.”
But in the same way, it’s important not to block your ears, block out the news, or block out the voices of major, big-label artists. Instead, Anohni looks towards voices like these, adding, “I want to try to be honest and understand what is happening in our world. Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the people who helps me to ask those questions.”
What Buffy Sainte-Marie offers Anohni is a chance to balance needed optimism with stark realism. “There is still joy to be found in our world,” she said, but recognises that “As a species, we are not well.” As Sainte-Marie’s record rages on through a rock tour or the good and the bad, it provides a necessary soundtrack to work through that.
