The much-anticipated upcoming album HOPELESSNESS by ANOHNI (formerly known as Antony of Antony and the Johnsons) has been announced with a release date of May 6th. Alongside this news, the singer also just dropped her new video for the record’s powerful second single “Drone Bomb Me”, featuring iconic model Naomi Campbell in a performance of startling intensity.
After her first single “4 Degrees” was released last December to coincide with the Climate Conference in Paris, it was clear to anyone watching that ANOHNI’s new material was going to be deliberate and purposeful. Dance and electronica often tend to shy away from politically charged lyrics and take-no-prisoners indictments of current events, leaving those elements to more traditional sober ballads. If the first two singles are any indication, HOPELESSNESS is shaping up to be a record that does the exact opposite, contrasting a unique new sound with a focus on timely subject matters of global importance.
The video gives us a devastating performance by Campbell who wields an emotional knife as she bares the soul of the song’s main character. ANOHNI has explained that “’Drone Bomb Me’ is a love song written from the perspective of a young girl in Afghanistan whose family has been executed by unmanned U.S. drones. She dreams of being annihilated.” Those themes are illustrated visually through the stark pain of Campbell’s tears and the ANOHNI is merciless and uncompromising where other artists might drown their subject matter in blurry metaphors. stunning choreography of a troupe of dancers. It’s as impossible to look away as it is to ignore the impact of the violent incidents that inspire the song and the wounds they leave in global communities.
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