I saw the wonderful Sally Potter perform songs from her new album Anatomy at Café Oto last night.
I was genuinely surprised to find out that the director of Orlando and the Tango Lesson was recording songs, but not surprised to discover that the straightforward lyrics communicate complex metaphor, and that the musical accompaniment is precise and often delicately handled. There’s a touch of Weimar cabaret, or perhaps a little bit female Leonard Cohen to Potter’s speak-singing approach, which is fitting because her topic is primarily our embodiment in a world we are environmentally despoiling.
Here’s an interview about her new album in The Line of Best Fit where she shares various thoughts about her inspirations for the album, and how music is best used in film: as counterpoint, which of course is correct.
It was such an intimate show that afterwards I got to thank her for creating certain scenes in The Tango Lesson that live on in my head years after watching, particularly the ones of dancing on airport travelators, which come back to me every time I’m in an airport, making the entire experience more bearable.
It’s such a beautiful film, the album is of a piece with the rest of her oeuvre, and Potter is an absolute icon.
