Any Human Friend
by Marika Hackman
  • Record Label: Sub Pop
  • Release Date: Aug 9, 2019
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. The Guardian
    Aug 9, 2019
    100
    Hackman is more confident than ever. With her singles The One and I’m Not Where You Are, in particular, she delivers lethally sharp pop hooks. The more low-key moments cut just as deep.
  2. Paste Magazine
    Aug 7, 2019
    93
    She hones in on her emotional and sexual connections both to herself and others post-breakup. The truths Hackman discovers along the way, illuminated by songs both inventive and entrancing, are enough to make anyone want to be her human friend (or, at least, a rabid fan).
  3. musicOMH.com
    Sep 11, 2019
    90
    At times, it’s so honest that you may feel like you’re prying into someone’s diary, but it will be a major surprise if this funny, clever, heartbreaking record isn’t nestling at the top of the Album Of The Year polls come December.
  5. DIY Magazine
    Aug 9, 2019
    90
    Not so much Marika 3.0 as the Marika who was always there, but tougher, stronger and more triumphant than ever.
  6. Sputnikmusic
    Aug 12, 2019
    82
    Any Human Friend cements Hackman as one of the most intriguing figures in indie-pop/rock, if not for her lyrical antics then for her ability to constantly reinvent her music.
  7. The Observer (UK)
    Aug 12, 2019
    80
    Hackman flits between self-reflection and self-loathing with ease (“You’re such an attention whore”), starkly unpicking her anxieties over fuzzy guitar on her most accomplished record to date.
  8. Under The Radar
    Aug 9, 2019
    80
    Any Human Friend is Hackman's most attention-demanding work to date, and positions her as one of the most refreshing voices in British music right now.
  9. Clash Music
    Aug 8, 2019
    80
    Any Human Friend is powerful, sexy, and self-assured - pretty much exactly what we expected from Marika, but even better.
  10. PopMatters
    Aug 8, 2019
    80
    Whether the subject is sex, love, equality or heartbreak, Any Human Friend offers up the perfect combination - lyrics to make you think and music to make you move.
  11. The Independent (UK)
    Aug 7, 2019
    80
    A blunt, bold album on which Hackman’s beatific voice sits atop methodically messy instrumentals.
  12. Q Magazine
    Aug 6, 2019
    80
    By simultaneously preserving the intimacy and honesty that made her initial work so striking, Any Human Friend sees Hackman wholly uncensored, and al the better for it. [Sep 2019, p.111]
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  13. Uncut
    Aug 6, 2019
    80
    Her most universal album yet. [Sep 2019, p.27
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  14. The Line of Best Fit
    Aug 6, 2019
    80
    Any Human Friend is an explosive body of work, one that isn’t afraid to discuss sex and female eroticism with a microscopic lens. Peeling away the layers to reveal an intrinsically human record.
  15. The Telegraph (UK)
    Aug 6, 2019
    80
    From the arresting cover (a comically unsalacious shot of a semi-naked Hackman holding a piglet to her breasts) to the startling contents, Any Human Friend signals Hackman’s coming of age as an artist with real purpose and 
star power.
  16. Pitchfork
    Aug 12, 2019
    73
    There are a few dull moments, like “Conventional Ride,” which explores how it feels to be the object of other people’s sexual curiosity. ... Any Human Friend reaches its high point with the quietest song.
  17. AllMusic
    Aug 9, 2019
    70
    Any Human Friend sounds sleeker and more polished than Hackman's previous releases, but at the same time it takes the playfully libidinous tone of I'm Not Your Man and cranks it up a few levels.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Best Album of 2019

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. Vanners
    Aug 20, 2019
    7
    Instrumentally this album sounds very nice on the ears, and it's consistently nice on the ears. Though it does suffer at the hands ofInstrumentally this album sounds very nice on the ears, and it's consistently nice on the ears. Though it does suffer at the hands of sometimes not having the right flow between tracks, and that hinders it a bit. Still though, a very interesting listen with a couple bops and some bloody great hooks.

    Favourite Tracks:
    the one, i'm not where you are, hand solo    … Full Review »
  2. SPQ
    Aug 15, 2019
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. An incredibly raw and honest album crafted with beautiful and cheeky lyrics about the emotional whirlwind that life can be.… Full Review »
  3. Paglioz
    Aug 9, 2019
    9
    I have been following Marika since That iron taste.
    In the first album we slept at last we breathed a dark side and at the same time    I have been following Marika since That iron taste.
    In the first album we slept at last we breathed a dark side and at the same time melancholy of the artist that I adore so much: open wide, claude's girl and let me in, just to name three. with the following release of i'm not your man Marika seems to abandon those tones that had characterized his first work to meet new musicality, boyfriend my lover cindy time’s been reckless just to name three, but at the same time you still hear a call at the roots of we slept at last as in round we go apple tree and AM.
    And finally we come to Marika's third album, any human friend, or this squalling banshee of a record as she called it herself, where she clearly feels a brilliant compositional maturity. Finally in this album the voice of marika returns to be the main instrument of the songs, the various overlaps of voices are savored on voices that have so much characterized his creative signature.
    In this album there is a fair compromise between the dark and melancholy high of we slept at last and the search for new sounds encountered in i'm not your man.
    marika addresses the issues of sex by linking the various narratives through sounds that leave their mark.
    to underline the wonderful cohesion between send my love a hand solo or tracks like all night that I consider today the most beautiful among the beautiful.
    quoting "someone" I can confirm that it was a long and painful birth, but I can already tell she's going to run the world when she grows up.
    BRAVA

    Enrico    … Full Review »
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