Anna von Hausswolff debuts ‘Struggle With The Beast’; her nine minute opus of stirring movement, anthemic ritualism, and maximalist composition. The experimental composer and musician fiercely melds the pipe organ, guitars, percussion, violin, viola, cello and double bass with a magnetic saxophone piece from Otis Sandsjö, all with her impending ethereal vocals.

“I wrote this song after a close friend experienced a psychosis,” von Hausswolff reveals. “There was something unstoppable and completely disconnected about her, as if she were living and reigning in a parallel universe of some kind. She was so far away from the person I knew, as if all of her social barriers had completely dissolved. There was a new, weird brilliance to her way of communicating and being. She had no filters. I’m glad she’s back to normal today, but it made me think of how vulnerable and complex we all are, and that there are layers of unresolved trauma and unspoken truths within everyone.”