Hopelessness
by Anohni
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 139 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 117 out of 139
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 139
  3. Negative: 9 out of 139
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  1. StevenX
    Feb 8, 2018
    2
    While Antony Hegarty's career has consisted mostly of crying and whining over beautiful, sparse, and sad piano music, the nearly-naked emperor has had a couple of transcendent moments with cover versions, first with Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will", then with Beyonce's "Crazy In Love", which was so amazing that you almost forgot it had the instantly-dated line "hoping you'll page meWhile Antony Hegarty's career has consisted mostly of crying and whining over beautiful, sparse, and sad piano music, the nearly-naked emperor has had a couple of transcendent moments with cover versions, first with Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will", then with Beyonce's "Crazy In Love", which was so amazing that you almost forgot it had the instantly-dated line "hoping you'll page me right now" and that the original had to rip off the Chi-Lites to get any attention. Well, those days are gone, as Antony the awkward man has decided he is now Anohni the awkward woman. Not everything has changed, though - while Anohni is much more political and "woke" now world-wise, she is still crying and whining as if her career depends on it (which is probably true). The big news is that she is now crying over sometimes cinematic but mostly just jarring electronic stabs of music that could possibly be made by pushing three buttons and six keys on an old Fairlight. Melody has never been A's forte, and this hasn't changed either - the "melodies" are small loops with differing vocals. Sometimes repetition drives the point home, but Anohni couldn't be bothered to get around to second verses on most of these tracks, and on the career low "Obama" she basically sings new words each time over the same kind of short four-note musical line that you and your sister used while making up songs about going to the mall or your puppy when you were four. The fervent cult that will probably never get larger will lap this up like it's peach nectar from Trent Reznor's eye socket, because for all the squeaks and squawks and, um, personal changes real or imagined, these vocals and lyrics could be stuck into any Antony and the Johnsons album and sound the same, as Anohni even makes anger sound like sadness. Some would call this comforting familiarity, others just stagnation.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

70
#70 Best Album of 2016
70
#70 Most Discussed Album of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. The Wire
    Jul 18, 2016
    70
    The songs with less specific and less contemporary references hit harder. [Jul 2016, p.46]
  2. Drowned In Sound
    Jun 20, 2016
    100
    An extremely compelling, beautifully articulated, bonafide masterpiece.
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  3. Resident Advisor
    Jun 13, 2016
    58
    Good pop is often pliable, its message broad or ambiguous enough for listeners to flex it to their taste. Political pop can be like this without compromising its message, but most of Hopelessness has no interest in pliability. It regards its audience as either fervent believers in Anohni's cause or a pop mass in need of blunt polemic.
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