Recommended New Release, Anna von Hausswolff, 'Live at Montreux Jazz Festival'

I’m really stretching the definition of ‘jazz’ for this review, but perhaps so too are the Montreux Jazz Festival themselves for putting Swedish rock singer-songwriter/pipe organ droner Anna von Hausswolff on their lineup! Still, Anna is one of these contemporary artists who straddles multiple genres in her art, and finds equal appreciation from fans of rock and the avant-garde (as well as, apparently, jazz fans). With the pipe organ being one of her first instruments, early releases of Anna’s like 2013’s Ceremony and even the more recent All Thoughts Fly from 2020 comprise atmospheric pipe organ dirges, often accompanied by Anna’s own voice. And while these more drone-like pieces do find their way into her Montreux Jazz Festival set, there’s still plenty of material taken from records like Dead Magic that have her taking on more of a dark-folk-songstress appearance, with a full band that edges extremely close to heavy metal territory at several moments throughout her recordings; on this 2018 Montreux recording, these not-so-disparate halves of Anna’s musical style are brought together seamlessly for likely one of the loudest shows the city’s jazz festival has experienced.

It was Anna’s subtle doom-leaning tendencies, as well as her embracing of the avant-garde, that ingratiated her with Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson of Sunn O))), landing her vocal feature spots on the band’s album Life Metal as well as the live BBC 6 session Metta, Benevolence – these haunting vocals are a particular highlight of some of the slower tracks on Live from Montreux, ‘Come Wander With Me’ and ‘Ugly and Vengeful’, that see her soaring over guitar and organ drones, while the high-energy ‘The Mysterious Vanishing of Elektra’ bears equal similarities to Kate Bush and no-wave veterans Swans.

As someone who’s had the pleasure of seeing Anna’s live show before – supporting the aforementioned avant-metal titans Sunn O))) back in 2019 – I can certainly attest to her full live band being quite the spectacle. A showcase of mournful organ drones, sultry doom-rock, and shrill vocal acrobatics all make Anna’s music so interesting to listen to. While you can hear plenty of the audience’s rapturous applause between songs, the quality of the live recordings strikes a great balance between clarity and rawness; you’d never mistake this for a studio session, but the brilliant recording quality and occasional spots of improvisation make this rewarding even for those already familiar with Anna’s work. As well as a solid entry in any AVH fan’s catalogue, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival serves as perhaps the ideal introduction to the Swedish singer-songwriter’s sound, and makes for a spellbinding listen all the more.

Live at Montreux Jazz Festival releases on May 13th on vinyl and coloured vinyl, via Anna von Hausswolff's own label Pomperipossa.

Be sure to check out some of Anna's other recordings, too...