Only Interested In One Thing

Anika “Finger Pies”

“Finger Pies” sounds like pacing in a loop, working out enough nervous energy to avoid freaking out, but not enough to provide a catharsis. There’s a low-simmering paranoia to the sound of it, but the anger in it is politely muted. Anika’s vocals, shifting between sung and spoken parts in a German accent that can’t help but make her sound a bit like Nico, makes the most of the ambiguous, unresolved quality of the music. It’s clear enough that she’s singing about being afraid of someone, but the nature of the relationship she’s describing is hard to parse. The point is that she’s not sure who her nemesis is, their identity is all conjecture and speculation, and that mystery only intensifies her fear of them. “Theory is you’re a monster,” she says in a halting tone, “that you hate yourself.” She’s trying to understand why someone has hurt her, why they apparently had no empathy for her, and her only way of comprehending it requires empathy on her end.

Buy it from Bandcamp.