Anika “Abyss” 2025. Sacred Bones Records, limited edition black/burgandy/white smash variant. Grungy + noisy psychedelic post-punk, Anika hails from Berlin (we didn’t purchase this album there!) and recorded Abyss at Hansa Studios (which we did make a pilgrimage to, famed spot of Bowie’s Berlin trilogy, Iggy, etc.). It looks like Abyss is her sixth LP, though it’s the first in our collection I believe. It’s noise-laden, bass-heavy and hypnotic: not a 60’s hippie trip (however “Buttercups” does lean that way a bit), rather dank late night Euro-club strobes  – think My Bloody Valentine vibes but with more options to dance. My top tracks include the title track “Abyss,” the chaotically ass-shaking “Out of the Shadows,” While the album is mostly dense and dark material, there are some lighter, sweeter moments like on “Walk Away” (the lyrics: not so much tho) and sparser/lo-fi tracks like “Into the Fire” and “Oxygen” upon which Anika seems to be channeling her inner Nico.