Molly Nilsson

Un-American Activities (Limited White Vinyl)

Night School
28.95 €
icon/play-white
Preorder
Tax included, Shipping not included
Un-American Activities is the 11th Studio album by Molly Nilsson. Written and recorded entirely on location in California at the former home of writer, poet and early opponent of the National Socialist regime in 1930s Germany, Lion Feuchtwanger and his wife Marta. An album of experimentation, genre-mashing and, above it all, Nilsson’s instantly recognisable melodic skill and empathy, it continues the songwriter’s explorations of power, freedom, oppression and its opposing force, a love unbound. After accepting an artist residency as part of the Villa Aurora program, Nilsson began work crafting a new album from scratch in a new environment, afforded the freedom, space and time to challenge her practice and take her music into new territory. The resulting work, Un-American Activities, is a love note not only to the artist who was among the very first to be declared an “enemy of the state” by the Nazi regime but also to both the eternal struggle he fought and the human spirit that pervades all of Nilsson’s best work. It is also a double-pointed poison pen letter: a critique of the new forms of oppression wielded by her temporary adopted country of the USA but also an acknowledgement of the promise it always offers but never fulfils. Along with the novel use of colour and photography in the artwork for Un-American Activities, there are swathes of new techniques, genres and timbres new to Molly Nilsson’s music in evidence, 16 years into her music career. On Jackboots Return is an icicle-cold New Beat track that deals directly with the current situation in Germany and the resurgent Nazi-affiliated AfD. The question the song asks is, what’s the timeframe we’re talking about? Is this the 30s, or somewhere a lot closer to home? The beat is picked up on The Communist Party, Nilsson’s deepest bow to House music, evoking the early 90s Rave pioneers, Belgian 80s music and Vogue-era Madonna. Here the lyrics are direct quotes from the McCarthy-era, anti-Communist pamphlet 100 Things You Should Know About Communism in the U.S.A. The Beauty Of The Duty does to pounding Electro what Nilsson’s last album Extreme did to Metal: subsume it into the Molly Nilsson aesthetic. It goes hard. While Un-American Activities finds Nilsson experimenting, creating instinctive music on a first-thought-bestthought basis there are still “classic” Molly moments liberally spread throughout. Excalibur feels like the Molly of old, an absolute star of a chorus refrain smudged with the vaseline of fuzz and hope, Red Telephone is wide-eyed, slathered in reverb and chorus effects, distorted with soaring melody, a heart-tugger that tugs the body upwards to the heavens with each evolving wave. Glistening digital tones wash through the album, providing a Y2K etherealness to Nilsson’s audacious Stars and Stripes reference to Wetcheeks. Perhaps the album’s standout, however, is Palestine (Somewhere Over The Rainbow), which is suffuse with empathy, solidarity and, in referencing the classic socialist-penned canon song from The Wizard Of Oz, speaks directly to the tradition of fighting oppression with full hearts of hope.

Share Article

Details

Release Date

30.08.2024

Cat No

LSSN097X

Tracklist

Track 1
icon/play-white
Track 2
icon/play-white
Track 3
icon/play-white
Track 4
icon/play-white
Track 5
icon/play-white
Track 6
icon/play-white
Track 7
icon/play-white
Track 8
icon/play-white
Track 9
icon/play-white
Track 10
icon/play-white
Indie / Alternative
icon/play-white
LP
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Un-American Activities Night School
Preorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Un-American Activities Night School
Indie / Alternative
icon/play-white
LP
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Solo Paraiso (10th Anniversary) Night School
Backorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Solo Paraiso (10th Anniversary) Night School
Indie / Alternative
icon/play-white
LP
Molly Nilsson
28.95 €
Solo Paraiso (10th Anniversary / LTD White Vinyl) Night School
Add To Cart
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Molly Nilsson
28.95 €
Solo Paraiso (10th Anniversary / LTD White Vinyl) Night School
Wave
icon/play-white
LP
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
History (2023 Re) Night School
Add To Cart
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
History (2023 Re) Night School
Wave
LP
Molly Nilsson
22.95 €
The Travels (Yellow Vinyl Repress) Night School
Backorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
Molly Nilsson
22.95 €
The Travels (Yellow Vinyl Repress) Night School
Wave
LP
Molly Nilsson
22.95 €
Imaginations (Red Vinyl) Night School
Backorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
Molly Nilsson
22.95 €
Imaginations (Red Vinyl) Night School
tba
2-LP
Mope Grooves
37.95 €
Box Of Dark Roses (LTD 500) Night School
Preorder
2-LP
Mope Grooves
37.95 €
Box Of Dark Roses (LTD 500) Night School
Wave
icon/play-white
LP
Karl D'Silva
25.95 €
Love Is A Flame In The Dark Night School
Preorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Karl D'Silva
25.95 €
Love Is A Flame In The Dark Night School
Indie / Alternative
icon/play-white
LP
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Un-American Activities Night School
Preorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Un-American Activities Night School
Indie / Alternative
icon/play-white
LP
Tristwch y Fenywod
25.95 €
Tristwch y Fenywod Night School
Preorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Tristwch y Fenywod
25.95 €
Tristwch y Fenywod Night School
Pop
icon/play-white
LP
Amery
25.95 €
Continue As Amery Night School
Add To Cart
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Amery
25.95 €
Continue As Amery Night School
Indie / Alternative
icon/play-white
LP
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Solo Paraiso (10th Anniversary) Night School
Backorder
Rock / Pop / Indie
LP
icon/play-white
Molly Nilsson
25.95 €
Solo Paraiso (10th Anniversary) Night School