Skunk Anansie: Anarchytecture

Artist: Skunk Anansie
Title: Anarchytecture
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 15th January 2016
Reviewed By: Millie Manders

From the opening of Skunk Anansie's lastest offering to the world of music, Anarchytecture, it's obvious this album is going to be completely different to anything you've heard Skunk Anansie do before. 

That in itself could mean many things, and my first impression is that you may well love it. But you may well not. Reminiscent of when Prodigy dropped Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, SA have decided to take their sound through a metamorphic twist, and it will shock the stalwart fan of old.

Similarly to Prodigy's 2004 release, Anarchytecture embraces 80s electro and dance music, melding it with their signature alt rock and melancholic yet upbeat texturised sounds. Whilst this isn't completely unlike Skunk Anansie, gone is the post nu-metal feel that underlays every track previous to these. That head banging, nagging angst that drove every melody and haunting vocal just isn't there.

Don't get me wrong, the tracks are full of grimy, belly bracing guitars and dark, whomping bass accompanied by arena rock drums and Skin's ultimate vocal. Track to track she flawlessly showcases her beautiful, idiosyncratic timbre and range, smooth and sharp at once, goose-bump inducing highs and super-sweet lows. I can hear David Bowie, The Hives, Prodigy and all manner of other epic influences. But it has a softness that wasn't there before.

I have been a mega fan of Skunk Anansie since I first heard Stoosh, playing it over and over, learning every lyric and line, mimicking each melody. Skin is one of my personal biggest vocal influences and I am reminded why over and over again listening to Anarchytecture. 

Opening track and first single Love Someone Else is a euphoric electro house number that reminds me of Miss Kitten, DJ Hell and the likes, and is definitely a stand out track, while Bullets and Beauty Is Your Curse are the closest tracks to that of SA's pervious releases.

While there is a whole lot I enjoy about SA's new album, I am finding the pop direction tough and there aren't any of the signature chorus hooks I was expecting. The vocal melodies just don't catch me in the same way Weak, Hedonism or Charlie Big Potato did, and still do.

It's a good album. It's not as captivating as their previous albums for me, but the more I listen the more I like it. It's eclectic, takes the listener on a journey and layers twisting emotions and varying levels of all the things that make Skunk Anansie a unique and blistering force in music.