2. Laurie AndersonMister Heartbreak
This is my favourite Laurie album, even more than Big Science. I discovered it because ‘O Superman’ was in my YouTube feed a long time ago and I remember the still image of her face being super nice. I loved the video so I looked her up and I just liked the cover of the record of Mister Heartbreak. I went to a pool with a friend, we brought a speaker and put the record on and I had to listen to it again and again and again later – there are so many sounds, you want to go back to it to be surprised again. It’s about the design – in her management of sounds she finds very textural things that are very particular, like ear candy. The melodies are quite fun. It’s a bright record. And William Burroughs is on it, and Peter Gabriel on ‘Excellent Birds’. ‘Gravity’s Angel’ is one of my favourite songs in the world. I envy her theatricalness, she’s so good. Telling stories, her violin, her style – it’s super cool.
