The Anchoress has shared the video for ‘The Art of Losing’, the title track from her second album due out on 12 March. While the visuals riff on ‘fake news’ and the role the media plays in enabling – and encouraging – it, the song itself is about loss. Catherine Anne Davies says: ‘Every idea about interrogating loss and what we learn or gain from it is funnelled through it. In a way it’s an upbeat reworking of the Nietzschean themes I explored on my debut – “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” – but here, I guess, I’m arriving at a refutation of that myth, which I think is pretty pointless when you’re trying to rationalise grief.’
There’s a new wave/Talk Talk feel running through the synth-led hooks while Catherine opens the song by declaring ‘Got a lot to learn about the art of losing’. As the tempo picks up, she goes on to ask the subject ‘Was there some purpose to losing my mind?’ and talks about how we’re ‘ill at ease with questions of need’. It’s a powerful message set against an invigorating sound.
