Born in the English county of West Sussex and having lived in New York for decades, the singer and pianist released her first album with the group The Johnsons in 2000. But her streak of success began with the 2005 release of the longplay I Am a Bird Now, earning her the prestigious Mercury Prize, and featured guest appearances by, among others, Lou Reed, Boy George and Devendra Banhart. Over the next 5 years, ANOHNI and the Johnsons released 2 more albums – the well-received The Crying Light and Swanlights. In 2016, the artist made a bold stylistic change with HOPELESSNESS – a solo album based on experimental, futuristic sounds. This ode to nature, full of anxiety and concern for the planet, earned her a BRIT Award nomination for Best British Artist. In the same year, ANOHNI was nominated, together with composer J. Ralph, for an Oscar for best original song for the song “Manta Ray” for the film Racing Extinction, which tells the story of the progressive mass extinction of subsequent animal species.

Last year, the first studio material released by ANOHNI & The Johnsons in 13 years saw the light of day. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross is an album emanating beauty expressed by – full of fragility and power at the same time – the artist’s phenomenal vocals and a subtle, but extremely suggestive instrumental layer. This set of songs talks about love, pain and longing and identifies the violence inflicted on excluded people and the planet we live on.

The artist has come a long way during a quarter of a century of her musical career – from chamber songs, through emotional art-pop and occasional turns towards the dance floor, to futuristic electropop. Last year, ANOHNI turned to soul in such a decisive way for the first time. I was thinking a lot about “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye. This was an extremely important point of reference in my head – she said in press materials promoting the latest release. It is not without significance that the songs were produced by Jimmy Hogarth, who previously collaborated with Amy Winehouse and Tina Turner. My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross was awarded the album of the year by The New Yorker and Gazeta Wyborcza and was placed in the top ten lists prepared by Pitchfork, The Needle Drop and The New York Times.

The artist carefully selects the locations in which she performs, and her concert at Malta Festival 2024, which is not part of the European tour, will be preceded by a series of performances in North America.

Doors: 19:00
Concert Anohni & The Johnsons: 21:00