Ceremony (Anna von Hausswolff album)

After releasing her debut album Singing from the Grave (2010), von Hausswolff moved from Gothenburg, Sweden to Copenhagen, Denmark.[1][2][3] During that time, she played a synthesizer that featured the sound of a pipe organ, which gave her interest in that instrument.[4] The album was recorded at the Annedal Church in Gothenburg which, despite having a small organ, von Hausswolff said that it "sounds really big because of the massive room, with cold walls made of stone."[3] She previously performed in that church at the 2009 Way Out West.[1]

The singer stated that during the recording of Ceremony in 2012, she played the pipe organ for the first time; the instrument would later become prominent in her following albums.[5] She added that "[o]nce I sat down and started playing, I knew that this was going to be a longterm relationship."[6] The album was worked on over several months at producer Filip Leyman's Gothenburg studio.[7] Von Hausswolff uploaded a series of YouTube clips of the recording process in the studio between May and June 2012.[8]

Ceremony blends several musical styles. Primarily a gothic pop album,[9][10] it also combines folk,[11] drone,[12] art pop, post-rock,[13] noise, and ambient.[14] The album makes prominent use of the pipe organ in nine tracks, differing sonically from Singing from the Grave, which used the piano as the main instrument.[15][3] Other instruments present in Ceremony are piano, synthesizers,[11] hand-claps, bass guitar, and discordant percussion.[16] The lyrical themes are predominantly about death and loss, with von Hausswolff saying that the death of her grandfather inspired the album.[14][15] Fabiana Giovanetti of London in Stereo wrote that "the lyrics are positively Byron-esque, resembling the British Romantic decadence of the 1800s.[17]

Von Hausswolff performing at Haldern Pop in 2013

Ceremony was released only in Sweden by Kning Disk on 18 July 2012. The album was re-released on 14 June 2013 in Europe by City Slang and on 9 July 2013 in North America by Other Music Recording Co.[20] The album's artwork features a close-up of organ pipes, reflecting on the use of that instrument in the music.[3]

To promote Ceremony, Anna von Hausswolff made several live performances. Her performance of "Mountains Crave" premiered through Stereogum's website on 16 May 2013.[24] She later played "Funeral for My Future Children" with percussionist Michael Stasiak at Christ Church United Methodist, New York City. American radio network NPR published the performance on 4 September 2013.[25]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.1/10[30]
Metacritic	77/100[31]
Review scores
Source	Rating
The 405	7/10[32]
AllMusic	[11]
Filter	83%[33]
GIGsoup	[34]
The Line of Best Fit	7.5/10[12]
Mojo	[35]
MusicOMH	[14]
The Skinny	[18]
Uncut	[36]

Ceremony received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on seven reviews.[31] Paul Smith from GIGsoup gave the album a perfect score, commenting that the inclusion of the church organ "gives a ghostly feel and compliments the vocals perfectly."[34] Peter Margasak of the Chicago Reader stated that despite not "entirely ditch[ing] th[e pop] template" from Singing from the Grave, Ceremony "radically altered the complexion of [von Hausswolff's] music, giving it a severe intensity and sense of grandeur."[37] Similarly, Nothing but Hope and Passion magazine's Henning Grabow agreed that the album "is clearly still pop music, yet it is of an unlimited, profound and ambitious sort" and that "it's just music that's passionately digging in the peripheries where, naturally, a lot of darkness is to be found."[38]

Calling Ceremony "a rare, thoughtful, inspiring record", Bob Boilen from NPR found that "von Hausswolff's voice possesses the power to soar with those mighty pipes and still hold tight to delicate, personal emotions."[39] Nevertheless, a more mixed review came from The New York Times's Ben Ratliff, who thought that her voice "isn't quite as big as she wants it to be, and her own instrumental writing is simple and limited", further adding that "the record is awkward and seriously pretentious at times, but you can't miss the heat of its ambition."[40] Ceremony was nominated for two Swedish Grammis and a Nordic Music Prize nomination.[39] Upon its initial release, Ceremony entered Sweden's Sverigetopplistan chart at number five. Following the announcement of its 2013 re-release, the record reached number 58 in that country.[41]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Ceremony.[43]

Musicians

• Anna von Hausswolff – vocals, pipe organ, piano, synthesizer
• Maria von Hausswolff – vocals (8–10, 13)
• Xenia Krissin – vocals (10, 12), zither
• Filip Leyman – synthesizer, percussion
• Karl Vento – guitar
• Joel Fabiansson – guitar
• Daniel Ögren – guitar, clavioline
• Christopher Cantillo – drums

Technical

• Filip Leyman – production, recording, mixing
• Philip Granqvist – mastering

Artwork

• Anders Nydam – photography
• Mattias Nilsson – design