Any Human Friend

Description

Hand Solo, Blow, and Conventional Ride are just a few of the cheeky offerings off Any Human Friend, the new album from rock provocateur Marika Hackman. This whole record is me diving into myself and peeling back the skin further and further, exposing myself in quite a big way. It can be quite sexual, Hackman says. Its blunt, but not offensive. Its mischievous. Theres also depth to her carnal knowledge: Any Human Friend is ultimately about how, as she puts it, We all have this lightness and darkness in us.

Hand Solo extorts the virtues of masturbation and features Hackmans favorite line, Under patriarchal law, Im going to die a virgin. The song Blow paints a picture of social excess. And Conventional Ride thumbs its nose at heterosexual sex through the trope a lot of gay women experience: sleeping with someone, then it becomes apparent youre kind of an experiment. Marika wrote the album over a year, recording a few songs at a time with co-producer David Wrench (Frank Ocean, The xx).

The longer recording process meant that Hackman had the time to experiment in the studio, especially with electronic songs. She was inspired by Wrenchs vast synth collection, many of which she used throughout Any Human Friend, notably on Hold On, a deep dive into ennui expressed as ethereal R&B. She also switched up drum rhythms and wrote songs on the bass, such as the upbeat, idiosyncratic Come Undone. Hackman bookends Any Human Friend with some of her most unexpected musical turns.