Sudan Archives – Athena
Artwork Athena
Gracefully Sudan Archives herself is depicted on her artwork for the album of the same name as the ancient Greek goddess Athena - as a dark shiny statue. In the Greek mythology Athena is the patron of wisdom, strategy, battle, art and crafts. With an undercut and a fringe Sudan Archives confers her own interpretation of her being the goddess of a modern touch. In addition, as Athena, she is also holding up a violin. By the image thus created one can sense what character the musical content will have – a charming R&B voice that meanders around the music, sticking close to the violin’s spirit. As her artist’s name gives away, her music is inspired by Sudanese folk music, however the rhythmical layout alternates between West African rhythms and Hip-Hop-beats.
Going deeper into the album’s subject matter, its title "Athena" also alludes to the book "Black Athena" by the British scholar Martin Bernal, in which he criticizes the extensive concealment of Egyptian and Phoenician influence on Greek antiquity - and thus on Western culture as a whole. Consequently, the covering-up of particular ideas takes center stage in the lyrics, alongside with her identity as a black woman living in the United States.
Sudan Archives, alias Brittney Parks, was born in Cincinnati and is currently based in LA. Her stage-name consists on the one hand of the country of her birth, Sudan, on the other hand Archives which is a reference to her fondness for crate-digging. While she absorbed discovering new music, she also taught herself playing the violin in her childhood.
In order to describe her story and identity, she moves back and forth among a variety of attitudes - elegance, confidence, optimism and despondency.
The track „Confession” shows her deponent side as she shares her exhausting experience of not fully knowing where she really belongs to. Though, once the confession is made, it seems like Sudan Archives rises above her struggles – likewise does her violin by playing swingfully along:
There is a place that I call home
But it's not where I am welcome
And if I saw all the angels
Why is my presence so painful?
Confessions are falling down
Down
Down
They soak up the dark, damp ground
From those sad moments, she moves on displaying confidence and optimism in a very strong fashion in „Down On Me”. The strings in it sound as if they try to respond to Archives melancholic voice. In the background you hear the plugging sound of the violin giving steady support. The interplay of her singing and the violin flourish together.
Musically, the trademark of her own sound is the merging of multiple styles into one. Each of her tracks features Sudanese influences as performed by her on the violin. Throughout the album Sudan Archive’s violin will play along with a variety of different musical styles. In „Did You Know” tender plugging her instrument meets classical European string play and a 70s keyboard. „Iceland Moss” infuses R&B, trip-hop and dreampop with Sudan Archives dreamingly completing the arrangement.
Another highlight and sudden twist is audible in „Glorious”: a surprising mix of Celtic fiddling and upbeat percussions get teared around with a feature by the rapper D-Eight.
Considering the different styles and genres Sudan Archives integrated in Athena, I conclude that it must have been a challenging task to attain coherence and harmony within the record. There is no doubt that Sudan Archives is a very talented artist after listening to this record. You can notice that her violin has lbeen a long companion to her as it sounds quite naturally them playing together.
Listen to Athena on Spotify:
