Wow this could be cathartic and courageous. As the catalyst to fire her debut solo album Swedish born now Montreal based vocalist, composer and producer Erika Angell reaches deep into her childhood memories and the first time she sang, aged four. ‘The Obsession With Her Voice’ will be released through Constellation on 8th March and it’s a record which Angell recognises marks “coming back to the beginning, somehow”, driven by that free spirit which saw her calling down from the mountains around her childhood home in Sweden.
Angell’s creative pathway curving around to this album’s release has stretched impressively over two decades of significant music making. It’s taken her from the Fylkingen experimental hub in Stockholm and her early projects Josef & Erika/The Moth, onto Montreal and the avant rock band Thus Owls, formed with her husband Simon Angell in 2007. Five acclaimed albums in and Thus Owls reputation for pushing the boundaries of alt-rock territory never wavers. Their last album, 2022’s ‘Who Would Hold You If The Sky Betrayed Us’, pitched the swirl of a sax trio into the mix while Erika’s vocals traversed the sung and spoken with an instinctive feel for the drama.
It’s that sensibility for using her voice as an unlimited instrument that seems to have inspired the soundscape on her upcoming solo album. As Angell reflects ‘The Obsession With Her Voice’ fulfils an intention “to sing what wants to be sung.” The first preview track, ‘Dress Of Stillness’, pulsed hypnotically as her vocal flew unleashed with a grandeur and gravity as definitive as Zola Jesus at her most profound. Now comes a second glimpse of things to come with ‘One’, an intense, emotionally direct spoken word, whipped up to desperation point by Mili Hong’s dynamic drumming.
‘The Obsession With Her Voice’ is destined to be shared by many as this music takes hold.
Pre-Order your copy of ‘The Obsession With Her Voice‘ by Erika Angell from your local record store or direct from Constellation Records HERE
