ANOHNI has announced a new album, My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross, her first album since 2016’s HOPELESSNESS and her first project attributed to ANOHNI And The Johnsons in nearly a decade. She recorded the album with producer Jimmy Hogarth with a studio band that included Leo Abrahams, Chris Vatalaro, Sam Dixon, and string arranger Rob Moose. “I’ve been thinking a lot about Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. That was a really important touchstone in my mind,” ANOHNI said in some press materials. “Some of these songs respond to global and environmental concerns first voiced in popular music over 50 years ago.”

“Many of the recordings on this record — like ʻIt Must Changeʼ and ʻCanʼtʼ — capture the first and only time I have sung those songs through,” ANOHNI said. “Thereʼs a magic when you suddenly place words you have been thinking about for a long time into melody. A neural system awakens. It isnʼt personal and yet is so personal. Things connect and come alive.”

Today, she’s sharing the album’s lead single, “It Must Change,” which comes with a music video directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard that stars activist Munroe Bergdorf. “Munroe Bergdorf has done so much service for British society,” ANOHNI noted. “She always impresses me with her articulate grace. Munroeʼs dignity and ethical courage are a guiding light.”

Watch and listen below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “It Must Change”
02 “Go Ahead”
03 “Sliver Of Ice”
04 “Can’t”
05 “Scapegoat”
06 “It’s My Fault”
07 “Rest”
08 “There Wasn’t Enough”
09 “Why Am I Alive Now?”
10 “You Be Free”

My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross is out 7/7 via Secretly Canadian / Rough Trade. Pre-order it here.