Articles by Safiya Hopfe
Helena Deland Attempts to Say What Cannot be Said on the Lovely 'Goodnight Summerland'
PUBLISHED Oct 11, 2023
Helena Deland sings about connectivity — to intimate partners, passing images and the world at large — from the vantage point of someone un...
Jamila Woods Bravely Explores the Tributaries of Selfhood on 'Water Made Us'
PUBLISHED Oct 11, 2023
In a her 1995 essay "The Site of Memory," Toni Morrisson spoke about the memory of water. "You know, they straightened out the Mississipp...
Aldous Harding Finds Freedom in Stylistic Collage on 'Warm Chris'
PUBLISHED Mar 22, 2022
New Zealand's Aldous Harding is a master of negative space. Her prowess is quiet: she weaves intimate walls in hushed proclamations, pauses...
Tanya Tagaq Leaves Little Unsaid on 'Tongues'
PUBLISHED Jan 19, 2022
Inuk musician, author, painter, activist and mother Tanya Tagaq was not raised on the several-thousand-year-old art of throat singing. Afte...
Arca's 'KICK' Cycle Is an Explosive Exploration of Her Multidimensionality
PUBLISHED Dec 3, 2021
As a nonbinary trans woman raised in Caracas, Venezuela — at the height of social unrest — and suburban Connecticut, Arca (aka Alejandra Gh...
Alfa Mist's Nostalgic 'Bring Backs' Is a Celebration of Origins
PUBLISHED Apr 21, 2021
Alfa Mist discovered jazz through hip-hop. Growing up, the English multi-instrumentalist came across records by the likes of Hi-tek, Madlib...
Lana Del Rey's 'Chemtrails over the Country Club' Is as Flawed as the American Dream Itself
PUBLISHED Mar 22, 2021
When Lana Del Rey burst onto the scene in 2011, critics had a hard time buying her diamond-encrusted sad-girl shtick. Her 2012 major label...
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Settle into Their Comfort Zone on 'L.W.'
PUBLISHED Mar 1, 2021
On L.W., King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's 17th studio album, the supreme rulers of the Gizzverse answer all of their own questions and fo...
