The Transformative Majesty of Anjimile’s ‘The King’

The plague of our year
the Black Death is here
your silence a stain
the marking of Cain

Anjimile’s The King is the kind of record you need to clear your schedule for. A densely arranged and deeply emotional affair, the album doesn’t just reward repeat listenings, it requires them. Reportedly built almost entirely out of manipulated sounds from Anjimile’s voice and guitar, as the opening chorale of the title track gives way to the propulsive, almost apocalyptic coda, it’s clear you’re in for a transformative experience.

Each track functions like a mini-universe of sound swirling around Anjimile’s breathtaking voice. From the waves of tone washing over the stunning “Mother” to the warped tines of the devastating “Genesis” to the fire and fury of protest song “Animal,” Anjimile takes everything he explored on his impressive debut and pushes it to its extreme. The raw and rough acoustic guitar and slivers of distortion float through as a reminder of the DIY spaces where Anjimile cut his teeth, but the depth of the arrangements exist on a cosmic scale.

As the closing notes of the dissonant, disorienting, utterly hypnotic “The Right” drift away, you’ll find yourself reaching to play it again. With The King Anjimile has taken the beauty, pain, and contradictions of his lived experience and transformed them into a bold vision that’s haunting, moving, and completely transfixing.

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