ALBUM REVIEW: HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING – Backxwash
2020: BACKXWASH seizes a chunk of our world’s attention with her sophomore album God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It. A Polaris Prize follows, and in 2021 she doubles down with the arguably even better I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES. Like much of the metal community, Distorted Sound are fully on board at this point, our 9/10 review of that record claiming “music this creative and uncompromising should always find a warm welcome in our scene.” Now, the Zambian-Canadian rapper makes another swift return as HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING comes to conclude one of the most urgent and impressive trilogies in all of music.
Described as a primarily autobiographical trilogy, the central draw of each instalment thus far has been BACKXWASH’s unflinching honesty. You wouldn’t think that her lyrics and delivery could ever hit as hard as the devastating industrial beats on offer here, and yet they never fail to do exactly that. After an intro-like piece in KUTALI, VIBANDA sees her come in utterly furious with a lengthy hook that includes lines like “I confess, I’m a mess / I’m a dog / I’m a pest” and “I should gather all my demons / I feel blessed, for no reason”. It’s instantly compelling, with choral chants and GODFLESH-sized percussion suggesting that this might be BACKXWASH’s biggest sounding record yet – something the remaining eight tracks confirm beyond doubt.
In the interest of bringing some balance to a review in which we were fully expecting to gush, one could probably argue that HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST hits a lot of similar beats to I LIE HERE BURIED. Like the title track on its predecessor, this album’s third offering NYAMA is arguably its most abrasive, this time featuring the genuinely harrowing screams and dissonant guitar work of PUPIL SLICER’s Kate Davies. It’s a total crusher, and even throws in a continuation of the Angela Davis sample heard on the I LIE HERE BURIED highlight TERROR PACKETS. Speaking of that track, CENSORED DIALOGUE also makes a return here, joining BACKXWASH and SADISTIK on the incendiary ZIGOLO for a cut laced with religious imagery and unsettling samples of a preacher reflecting on a ‘curse on women’ detailed in Genesis 3:16.
Of course, any connections between these records are entirely intentional, so if anything it’s actually a triumph that this album feels like the natural continuation of its predecessors. Its themes remain similar too, with race and religion often quite clearly at the forefront as BACKXWASH continues to pursue catharsis by travelling further and further back in time to explore that which made her who she is today with fresh perspective and rage. Perhaps no verse hits harder than the second of ninth track KUMOTO, where BACKXWASH recounts the story of making fun of a terminally ill friend in the name of being accepted by the ‘bros’. As with much of BACKXWASH’s work, there is such power in these specifics – a complete vulnerability and believability that carries way more impact than any trite or ambiguous expressions of pain or regret.
With all this in mind, HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST’s conclusion is absolutely staggering. For perhaps the first time in the entirety of this trilogy, BACKXWASH appears to allow some form of light to come through in closer MUKAZI. A pay-off three records in the making, its rich strings and Motown-esque vocals set a warm and triumphant tone as BACKXWASH talks of missing her uncle, forgiving her father, and how “It’s like my life means something / Less stressed these days” before the backing vocals take over to end the record with resounding repetitions of “Every little thing in my heart is for you now”.
By this point, 38 minutes have absolutely vanished as BACKXWASH has once again produced one of the finest records of the year. Many will have been convinced of her quality long before now, but HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING proves yet again that we are talking about an artist of the very highest pedigree. If there’s any justice in the world, BACKXWASH‘s name will one day carry the same kind of influential weight as that of anyone from NINE INCH NAILS and SWANS to DEATH GRIPS and WU-TANG CLAN. Until then, she’s finished her trilogy, it’s practically flawless, and who knows what on earth she’ll do next.
Rating: 9/10
HIS HAPPINESS SHALL COME FIRST EVEN THOUGH WE ARE SUFFERING is out now via self-release/UglyHag Records.
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