Suffering Jukebox

This morning's episode features an interview with Australian experimental musican Liam Andrews. Perhaps best known as the bassist for Melbourne's My Disco, Liam now lives and Europe and creates in various groups and under various monikers. Aicher, his solo project, will release Defensive Acoustics (their first full-length) on Friday November 7th. October 31st also saw the release of Precaution, the first single from a forthcoming, debut album by SPILLINGS, a collaboration with Big|Brave guitarist Mat Ball. You can find out more about Aicher (and purchase their music) here; https://aicher.bandcamp.com/music and SPILLINGS here; https://spillings.bandcamp.com/album/spillings

Nick's Pick of the Week is Anna Von Hausswolff's Icononcalsts, which was released last Friday, October 31st. You can hear it in all the usual places, or purchase it here; https://annavonhausswolff.bandcamp.com/album/iconoclasts and my review can be read below.

Anna Von Hausswolff: Iconoclasts (Year0001)

Released October 31st 2025

Swedish composer and pipe organist Anna Von Hausswolff returns with her most varied and accessible album yet, the deliciously gothic —yet buoyantly poppy— Iconoclasts. Her two previous albums, 2018’s Dead Magic and 2020’s All Thoughts Fly, were each brooding, disturbing masterpieces rooted in grim atmospherics and punctuated by Hausswolff’s acrobatic vocals. Iconoclasts lets in a little light, without sacrificing the mysterious spirit of its predecessors.

Over the years, Hausswolff has drawn the ire of conservative church groups who have deemed her music to be “satanic,” protested her performances and expressed anger at her penchant for performing in churches. She has been compared to Diamanda Galás and has collaborated with groups such as Sunn0))) and Wolves In The Throne Room. On Iconoclasts, Hausswolff continues this history of collaboration by working with a diverse array of artists such as Iggy Pop and Ethel Cain.

With a runtime of almost eighty minutes, Iconoclasts is not a casual listen. It requires a certain level of commitment from the listener and —even when one considers its comparatively lighter tone —there is a weighty, almost oppressive, sensibility that permeates many of the album’s tracks. The Beast opens the album with three minutes of noisy organ dirge that gradually gives way to the shimmery tones of Facing Atlas, a dancy number that also showcases Hausswolff’s impressive vocal range. 

Many of the album’s songs start slow, gradually building in intensity before bursting into a final crescendo. The Mouth is an early example of this, but it bucks the trend by refusing to explode. Instead, it manages to lull itself back at the very moment one expects it to unleash hell. This rather intense form of musical restraint results in a song full of dread, but with no release, that consistently keeps the listener on edge. 

Unconditional Love, featuring vocal contributions from Maria Von Hausswolff, Anna’s sister, contains some of the album’s most epic and beautiful moments. Propelled initially by synth and vocals, in the song’s final four minutes the vocals ascend into a powerful organ finale that is nothing short of stunning —and also deeply moving. 

With Iconoclasts, Hausswolff has created something that sounds uniquely different whilst still paying lip service to her past. By embracing pop hooks and dance floor energy, she is pushing her music into bold new territories that should garner attention from a wider audience. Despite this new reach for illumination, she still manages to dwell in the darkness; as one would expect from the writer of Funeral For My Future Children. Iconoclasts reminds us that —even in the brightest of moments— we can never be sure of what shadows lurk around the corner.

Nick Stephan