Alternative
Deutsche Grammophon · 18 September 2026
The credit sheet on this record reads like a statement of intent. “Written, recorded, arranged and produced” by Agnes Obel at her Strange Harvest Studio in Berlin “between 2020 and 2026”: that span is the line printed on the vinyl. The mix and the engineering are hers too, dated 2026, and Martin Englert takes the mastering credit.
Nine guests play on it, and the list is a good one: Julian Sartorius on drums and percussion, with a separate credit for water drums; Takiaya Reed on saxophone; Fred Kinbom on bass, harmonium and lap steel; Gabrielė Mišeikytė on flute; Alexina Hawkins on viola; Charlotte Danhier and Edward King on cellos; John Corban on violin; and Jenn Rudelove on backing vocals. Obel takes vocals, piano, keyboards, synths, samples and a sampled harp. Samuel L. Schwenk recorded the additional drums and percussion.
It comes out on Deutsche Grammophon, catalogue number 4869121, the label that released “Myopia” (2020). Twelve titles on the vinyl, five on side A and seven on side B. Side A runs from the title track to “Blood So Red” by way of “Laymelli”, “Gemini” and “Never Been”; side B opens with “No Such Thing As Silence” and closes on “Faustian Deal”.
And with all those people on it, the credit sheet leaves exactly one opening. Of the nine guest names, the only one that comes near composition is John Corban’s, credited with “additional string hooks development”: not one of the others appears as producer, arranger or co-writer, and what Englert and Alex Brüel Flagstad bring to the mix is credited, literally, as feedback. Six years of writing, arranging, production, engineering and mixing under a single name, with nobody else credited on a single decision.
It is pressed on 180-gram vinyl, lacquer cut by Daniel Krieger, with a visual concept by Andrea Cadorin and photography by Flagstad. Obel plays Paral·lel 62 in Barcelona on 19 October 2027.
Rating: 7.9/10
Text by Marçal Bonastre