The Silver Birch (Betula pendula) is a native tree to Anna von Hausswolff’s home of Gothenburg, Sweden. With bark that peels in layers, becoming stronger with age; its’ leaves soft to the touch but with jagged edges; and infamously being a fast growing, pioneer species that colonizes new ground incredibly quickly, it feels like the perfect metaphor for von Hausswolff’s evolving style and career trajectory.
Each record has hidden layers, successive records point to a clearer picture of who she is as an artist and auteur, with song upon song consistently exploring new territory. Native to Sweden, but the national tree of Finland, the international birch also serves as avatar for von Hausswolff’s increasing global renown, demonstrated not least on last year’s Iconoclasts, that features punk royalty in Iggy Pop and alt-indie darling of the past few years, Ethel Cain.
The birch is also considered one of the foremost examples of a ‘nursing tree’ – one that creates canopy cover and fertile soil for other plants to grow and thrive. As such, it’s clear von Hausswolff chooses her support acts in a considered, curational way. Despite being born in Japan, Hinako Omori moved to London at the age of three, growing up – as she states while thanking Anna – “down the road” from Electric Brixton. Her ambient, beguiling, curiously avant-garde minimalism enchants the crowd, and in turn lays down the foundational roots for the night’s headliner.
Despite being a fully signed up member of the ‘she can do no wrong’ club of AvH for some time, it’s fair to say recent years have challenged my membership. 2020’s purely instrumental album, All Thoughts Fly, that now I recognise as subtle and gorgeous, felt [unfairly] like a bit of a ‘stopgap’ on release. A triumphant vocal return notwithstanding, Iconoclasts has taken me longer than expected to fully immerse myself in. The new world conjured and sonic tapestry weaved were difficult to immediately appreciate, despite the more immediate nature of the music. Which only served to suffuse the evening with more meaning, as the record took on a new life, branching out in original and uncanny ways throughout the mesmerising set.
The sonic power of her band would be a sight and sound to behold on any night, but von Hausswolff’s pure and piercing voice transcended all, leaving many a jaw in Brixton, including my own, agape. The new album received robust representation – nine of the twelves cuts were presented to a sold-out, hypnotised venue – with the LP instantly recontextualised in my mind. Witnessing the songs live – alive! – has afforded recent listens the ability to peel away the initial exterior, revealing the mellifluous sonic syrup pulsing within.
In interviews she has cited Chelsea Wolfe, Emma Ruth Rundle and Margaret Chardiet (Pharmakon) as inspiration for artists who employ dark aesthetics while striving for the light, and the avant prog / monolithic pop / chamber doom of her most recent material certainly focuses that prism onto the latter, with some tracks getting an adoring crowd almost, almost dancing.
While Iconoclasts is very much alive, there is something to be said for investigating the inverse. Explored in depth on previous LPs, von Hausswolff and her band summon the most magical moments with the alchemical charm of ‘The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra’ and the behemoth of emotion and aural thunder that is ‘Ugly and Vengeful’, both drawn from the album I consider iconic in her back catalogue. The dénouement of the gig felt like a ritual befitting one of her home city’s many neo-Gothic churches, especially given they house some of the most beautiful pipe organs beloved, and employed with scintillatingly arcane style, by von Hausswolff herself throughout her career.
Breathless and spellbound, the crowd pour out of the cauldron of Electric Brixton into the dark of night and the pouring rain of January. Blinking up at unseen stars, eclipsed by London’s hum of light, all realise they have witnessed an artist whose musical branches continue to flourish and explore, persistently striving toward the divine.
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