On the 3rd Day of Mavericks ...

... my reader gave to me.

ANOHNI

- as nominated by ‘Challenge 69’ reader Louise W

For our third reader proposed maverick Louise has suggested the singer/songwriter ANONHI, formerly known as Antony, of Antony and the Johnsons.

Louise is a headmaster (alongside her part time role as my ‘speech punctuation’ tutor), so I will be taking extra care to get all the personal pronouns right in this post!

Intriguingly (being busy with a myriad of school duties) Louise has just provided me with a name, so I’m going to risk a (hopefully educated) punt on her reasoning; beyond the quality of ANONHI’s songwriting, which has stayed consistent right through her musical evolution, my suspicion is it’s the startling vibrato timbre of her voice that tipped the scales on this nomination. If I’m right, then I couldn’t agree more.

While many of you will be more familiar with ANONHI from her work with Antony and the Johnsons, I’d encourage you to also check out her excellent solo album ‘HOPELESSNESS’ from 2016, a great cover of Dylan’s ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ from 2020, and, more recently, the collaborative work she and Budgie (from Siouxsie and the Banshees) have done with the dance music project Hercules & Love Affair.

It’s that time again though, so let’s hear what Stuart thinks of our latest nominee:

“Up until now I’ve only got two Mercury Prize winners in my maverick stable (take a bow Polly Harvey & Jarvis Cocker), so it’s a pleasure to add an equally deserving third.

I often bang on about how difficult it is to play guitar differently in rock music (quoting Andy Gill as the exception that proves the rule), but it’s an argument you can easily extend to vocals. Indie music (or rock generally) too often relies on a certain formulaic style of singing, so it’s always a delight to find someone who has managed to develop ‘a new way of doing it’.

ANONHI (like Bjork, Billy McKenzie, and Kate Bush) has one of those strange yet beautiful voices that immediately makes you sit back and listen the second you hear it. Strange is good though. Strange is maverick!”

Third time lucky then, with our latest nominee handed an unqualified pass into maverick-dom by the ‘gatekeeper’.

Just leaves me to update the ‘12 Days of Mavericks’ playlist. While loathe to ignore her recent work (and having considered ‘Drone Bomb Me’ from HOPELESSNESS, and Hercules & Love Affair’s ‘One’) I simply can’t bring myself to select anything other than ANONHI (as Antony)’s extraordinary, sublime ‘Hope There’s Someone’.

(By the time Christmas arrives I’m going to be traumatised by that Jona Lewie picture taking centre stage every time, thanks Keith!)

Remember to look out for our fourth ‘new maverick’ nomination at the same time tomorrow.