Laurie Anderson & Sexmob: X²

Laurie Anderson is one of the most multi-faceted and continually curious artists of the last half-century in any field. Though Anderson originally studied two of the most tactile forms of art-making in existence, playing the classical violin and sculpting, her work graduated to more grandiose conceits following a move into the downtown New York scene of the mid-‘70s. Whether playing until the ice that held her ice skates melted, using virtual reality to create inner sanctums of individual wonder, designing CD-ROMS, or inventing instruments that made processes like granular synthesis seem physical, Anderson’s work has pursued frontiers of possibility. Just as she helped codify the idea of vocal processing in pop music long ago, her audacious 2024 album, Amelia, saw the pilot as a fearless feminist and a boldly public figure. They are kindred spirits.

In the concert program X², Anderson offers a survey of a half-century of her own boldness, moving through stories and songs at the fringe and fore of modern art-pop with a band of fellow New York luminaries. Anderson has, of course, worked before with Sexmob, even playing Big Ears with the dazzling quartet of saxophonist Briggan Krauss, drummer Kenny Wollesen, bassist Tony Scherr, and trumpeter Steven Bernstein. But this new set of songs reveals yet more dimensions of both Anderson and the band around her, reminders of how sweeping and prescient her career at the edge of pop music has been.