Laurie Anderson and the Kronos Quartet

Laurie Anderson has teamed up with the Kronos Quartet for a new album, which is due out a week from today, on February 16th. Released by Nonesuch on both Vinyl and CD, Landfall is inspired by Anderson’s experience during Hurricane Sandy, in 2012. The 30-track LP features song titles like "CNN Predicts a Monster Storm", "The Electricity Goes Out and We Move to a Hotel" and "The Wind Lifted the Boats and Left Them on the Highway." 

“These are stories with tempos. I’ve always been fascinated by the complex relationship of words and music whether in song lyrics, supertitles or voice over. In Landfall, instruments initiate language through our new text software, erst. The blend of electronic and acoustic strings is the dominant sound of Landfall. Much of the music in this work is generated from the harmonies and delays of unique software designed for the solo viola and reinterpreted for the quartet. In addition, there were elements of the optigan, a keyboard that uses information stored on optical discs.”

- Laurie Anderson

“I have hoped that Laurie Anderson would write for Kronos since first encountering her work 30 years ago. She is the master magician musician who has always inhabited those secret places where technology has personality, where “real time” is questioned and where all the elements of performance meet and combine into music. Her process is to gather and continue to gather potentially useful aspects as she sculpts a shape. Her sense of play and fun and her continuous experimenting make her the ideal chemist [or is it alchemist?] in the laboratory of music. As Laurie discovers new essential elements, the world of thought is more encompassing and shapes of the future are becoming more apparent. What a thrill it is for Kronos to join her in Landfall as we explore what emerges together.”

—David Harrington, violin

The Kronos Quartet have previously collaborated with John Adams, Arvo Pärt, Allen Ginsberg, The National, Tom Waits, David Bowie, George Crumb, Björk, Henry Górecki, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Homayun Sakhi, Astor Piazzolla, Amon Tobin, Faith No More, and countless others. Anderson's musical collaborations include Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, William S. Burroughs, Philip Glass, John Zorn, John Giorno, and her late husband Lou Reed.