Laurie Anderson Helps Us Face Catastrophe on Live LP

At the beginning of her new live album Let X=X, recorded with the accompaniment of unconventional jazz ensemble Sexmob, avant-garde icon Laurie Anderson introduces herself as our guide for the night. “This is your captain / We are going down / We are all going down / Together,” she says, her voice as authoritative as it has ever been, even in this era of catastrophe.

Her presence soothes immediately, but Laurie Anderson is not here to be a savior, as she makes clear throughout her performance. If there’s one lesson she imparts over and over, it’s that there are rarely clean, complete solutions to real problems. It’s neither pessimism nor surrender, but a serene kind of pragmatism. Anderson accepts that there is much in the world she cannot change, but she’s still going to talk about it. “This is the time / And this is the record of a time,” she says as the record begins and again at its end. 

Anderson’s is a timely perspective indeed, and brilliantly executed. In between performing selections from her musical repertoire, she shares thoughts, stories, and the insights they yield. These narratives come from childhood, past teachers, fellow iconoclasts, and present thinkers, as well as Anderson’s own knowledge and experience. Connecting them all in various ways is a commentary on the fraught relationships between humanity and contemporary technology.

“Bots,” she tells us midway through the album, “are the new angels. Like angels, they come from another world; like angels, they were invented by humans, and they like it when we talk to them.” As she continues, a vocoder warps the natural warmth of her voice and brings it into a higher register: “But you know, there’s something kind of off about the way they go into loops… as they talk, we learn to speak their language. So you have to ask: who is copying who?” The uncanny feel of her voice in conjunction with her assessment makes for an especially pointed critique. 

There are many such lessons to learn from Let X=X. Perhaps the most vital point is that AI and robots will not snatch us back from the brink we have brought ourselves to. As a creator known for her innovative artistic uses of modern technologies, which she continues to demonstrate throughout the record, Anderson’s credibility is strong and her arguments cogent. Just as thoughtful as her direct address of the digital age, though, are the themes of political unrest and personal accounts that remind us what it is to be alive and part of society.

Anderson talks about the rise of depression before launching into the raw and gripping “Church of Panic”, reminisces about her father before a touching and violin-forward rendition of “Junior Dad” (originally by late spouse Lou Reed and Metallica) that glides into Anderson’s highest-charting hit “O Superman”, and on “Swimming” recalls a harrowing memory of accidentally causing her younger brothers to fall through an icy lake and then saving them to unexpected praise from her mother. “That was the first time I learned just how much just a few words can change your whole life,” she concludes on the latter track.

Laurie Anderson uses her few words in the service of tremendous impact on Let X=X. She speaks with intent and honesty, each sound and space formed with care. Sexmob make for a perfect backing band, consummate professionals who follow Anderson’s every beat and create a perfect atmosphere for her to philosophize. This is a rare live album worth listening to from start to finish, both for the music and all the interstices. You won’t glean any false hope from it, but you might find yourself better understanding how we can all live our best lives as we crash land together.