Albertine Sarges - Family of Things (2022) Hi Res

On new EP Family Of Things, Albertine Sarges - the Berlin-based multi-hyphenate creative talent - plumbs new depths of unadorned and often self-confessional emotion. Don’t assume that these are necessarily gloomy or unpleasant responses, rather we are presented with realistic feelings and ideas that are rarely put into words and music.

Such is the emotional immediacy on show that Sarges seems to reach across the divide between musician and listener, either through a confessional lyric like “I wear clothes like a granny”, or the interaction with collaborators who play key roles on the album such as singer Anna B Savage, poet Amanda Monti, and flautist Lisa Baeyens. ‘Hold On’, though ostensibly about nicotine addiction, could be applied to any type of crutch - drugs, booze, sex, work, relationships, expensive pastries. Likewise, on ‘Birds Life’ she sings “I always do the same things wrong”. These oh-so-relatable concerns are why the EP seems to stretch its arms outwards, reaching for understanding. Perhaps the best example of this is the lyric “the best slurp is love”: neither we or Sarges may be able to give a 100% accurate description of what it means (she says “I don’t know if that is even proper English”), but we have a hazy understanding, a sense, a vibe of this charmingly messy little phrase. Such is Sarges’ talent that we’re taken along with the general thrust of this notion, and indeed the EP itself. To use a modern phrase, we feel seen.