Inspired by a short but mesmerizing contribution to the latest SUNN O))) live release, Metta, Benevolence, I allow myself a little leap in time, back to the autumn 2020, when the fifth album of Swedish exceptional musician ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF was released.

Since the beginning, the organ was the instrument of choice for ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF. She embedded this instrument in various genres and styles and experimented with it. Funeral Pop she calls the music herself. On her new record, All Thoughts Fly, she goes pure. Fully. No singing, no other instruments, only the pipe organ. And for this she looked for something really special: an exact replica of a 17th century North German baroque organ in the techniques and design philosophies by Arp Schnitger, housed inside Gothenburg’s Örgryte Nya Kyrka.
The inspiration for this record she got from the monumental sculptures in Sacro Bosco, the Gardens of Bomarzo, in Italy. One of the statues is called Orcus mouth (Orcus, the Roman god of the dark underworld) with "Ogni pensiero vola" written on the upper lips, which translates to All Thoughts Fly. This sculpture is also shown on the cover artwork with ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF nearly swallowed therein, accidentally captured like an eerie ghost on a mystical and blurred old photography. The image perfectly summarizes what the album is about, hinting at the darkness in her music, the historical place and its atmosphere, as well as the absurdity and weirdness of this forest with its figures and inscriptions.
The creative process from the park to the concept of the album and the special instrument alone is truly outstanding. What blows my mind even more is the fact that ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF recorded these seven compositions on seven days with a minimum of mobile equipment.

All this makes All Thoughts Fly a total work of art. Everything merges and develops its own magic. The myriad of (supposedly impossible) tones, sounds and effects Anna can elicit from this instrument is astounding, layered, shifted and repeated to a hypnotic soundscape. ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF truly uses the full range of this instrument. Even the audible key strokes and the air pressed through the pipes are turned into a stylistic mean.
I really like the pulsing tone sequence at the beginning of Theatre Of Nature, its melancholy and the feeling of being lost there. I like the drones, the ominous undertone in Sacro Bosco and the "hissing", like deep-throated growls straight out of Orcus' mouth. And I also like the tones sparkling like water in the title track. The whole album pours a majestic opulence and grandeur, owing to the pipe organ and its enchantress. Would be interesting to learn, if the organist of that church was present during the recording session and how he/she reacted ;)
All Thoughts Fly is not like her previous records but still dark and dramatic, reflecting on death, loss and grief and yet so hauntingly beautiful. Dissonant overtones and drones keep the listener away from euphony but not the listening pleasure. All Thoughts Fly is not exhausting yet challenging and requires an open-minded listen. An exceptional and enthralling album from a unique and enigmatic composer.