The recently-reunited ANOHNI and the Johnsons have shared “Sliver of Ice,” the latest single from the group’s upcoming album My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross.
A gentle, brooding ballad, “Sliver of Ice” comes with a heavy backstory: “A friend of mine expressed to me in the final months of his life that the simplest sensations had begun to feel almost rapturous; a carer had placed a shard of ice on his tongue one day and it was such a sweet and unbelievable feeling that it caused him to weep with gratitude,” ANOHNI said in a press release. “He was a hardcore kind of guy and these moments were transforming the way he was seeing things. I wrote ‘Sliver of Ice,’ remembering those words of his.”
Those words translate into powerful lyrics: “Now that I’m almost gone/ Sliver of ice upon my tongue/ In the day’s night/It tastes so good, it felt so right/ For the first time in my life, ANOHNI sings in her striking, full-bodied croon. Watch her in the accompanying music video for “Sliver of Ice” below.
My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross is out July 7th via Secretly Canadian and Rough Trade, and marks ANOHNI and the Johnsons’ first release under the moniker in over a decade. It follows ANOHNI’s 2016 solo debut album Hopelessness and 2017’s Paradise EP. ANOHNI previously previewed the new album with the song “It Must Change.”