This year Anna von Hausswolff has already blown away audiences on tour with Refused and played a momentous show at St John on Bethnal Green for Convergence Festival. Now, she prepares to bring her apocalyptic new record ‘The Miraculous’ back to the UK this summer and again in the Autumn.
Amongst other European festivals, July 2nd will see Anna and her band head to London for a special show accompanied, for the first time, by a choir as part of Nils Frahm’s Possibly Colliding weekend at London’s Barbican. Nils describes Anna as a "unique talent" in the latest episode of Barbican's podcast here.
She has also been confirmed as main support for SWANS during their extensive European dates throughout October and November.
As a taste of what to expect, Anna has shared a video of ‘Evocation’, played live on the organ at Orgelkraft Festival in Stavanger, Norway.
The Miraculous (out now via City Slang) is an album steeped in history, mystery, magic and terror, drawing on tales & folklore from her homeland of Sweden, whilst making full use of the Acusticum Pipe Organ in Piteå, Northern Sweden, whose colossal sound – with 9000 pipes – swells heroically throughout the album. This magnificent instrument’s unusual features – built-in glockenspiel, vibraphone, celeste and percussion, as well as what von Hausswolff describes as “a screaming bird sound” produced by “pipes half covered in water” further broadened the record’s aesthetic. Yet, for all the power of the music, it is Anna von Hausswolff’s incomparable voice that sits first and foremost, swooping around the instruments to phenomenal effect.
Praise for ‘The Miraculous’:
“Anna von Hausswolff is a genuine one off… The boldness of her vision is compelling.” – **** The Observer
“From ethereal balladry to explosive free form space rock… Cyclopean in scale and ambition.” - The Wire
“Brooding, epic and utterly captivating: the dark side has never sounded so appealing.” - 9/10, Loud & Quiet
“Vast and apocalyptic.” - 8/10, Uncut
“An undeniable power… Part siren, part lightning rod for the disenfranchised, she sings with unfettered abandon.” - 4/5 Mojo
"A huge, brooding record that fuses ethereal fantasy with the portentous drama of rumbling organ drone" - The Quietus
“Our shaky grasp on reality is tested by the sonic assault created by her dramatic pipe organ, wailing vocals and post-rock dynamics” – Sunday Times Culture
“A complete revelation.” – 8/10, Drowned In Sound
"Stunning, immensely immense, harrowing at times and yes, quite awe-inspiring" - Dangerous Minds
Anna von Hausswolff live dates:
June
29 - Roskilde DK, Roskilde Festival
July
02 - London UK, Nils Frahm Weekender @ Barbican (with choir)
16 - Cartagena ES, Lar Mar De La Musica Festival
30 - Stockholm SE, Stockholm Music And Arts Festival
August
11 - Gothenburg SE, Way Out West Festival
12 - Helsinki FI, Flow Festival
13 - Malmö SE, Malmö Festivalen
20 - Porto PT, Amplifest
October
5 -Toulouse FR, Organ Festival
6 – Brussels BE, Oranjerie Botantique*
7 – Eindhoven NL, De Effenaar*
8 – Brighton UK, Concorde 2*
9 – Manchester UK, HMV Ritz*
11 – Glasgow UK, Oran Mor*
12 – Newcastle Upon Tyne UK, Northumbria University*
13 – London UK, Islington Assembly Hall*
14 – London UK, Islington Assembly Hall*
15 – Reims FR, La Cartonnerie*
17 – Hamburg DE, Kampnagel*
18 – Berlin DE, Huxleys Neue Welt*
19 – Prague CZ, Divaldo ARCHA Theatre*
21 – Budapest HU, A38 Ship*
22 – Vienna AT, Arena Big Hall*
23 – Graz AT, Orpheum Extra*
25 – Ljubljana SL, Kino Kiska Centre For Urban Culture*
26 – Zagreb HR, Lauba*
28 – Basel CH, Kaserne*
29 – Vevey CH, Rocking Chair*
30 – Bern CH, Reitschule Dachstock*
November
1 – Nantes FR, Le Grand Mix*
2 – Nimes FR, La Paloma*
4 – Torino, IT, C2C*
5 – Bologna IT, Teatro Auditorium Manzoni*
6 – Rome IT, Orion Live Club*
8 – Turcoing FR, Le Grand Mix*
9 – Paris FR, Le Trabendo*
10 – Cologne DE, Gebäude 9*
11 – Munich DE, Feierwerk*
12 – Wiesbaden DE, Kulturezentrum Schlachthof*
13 – Utrecht NL, Le Guess Who
Links:
Stranger in session
An Oath on Soundcloud
Evocation video
Facebook page
Watch 'Evocation' and 'Come Wander With Me/Deliverance' below:
