Laurie Anderson, Bright Red

Album of the Week, September 19, 2026 For all the brilliantly trenchant observations that Laurie Anderson made in her 1980s recordings, there was one topic that was rarely the focus of her songs. Though “O Superman” had the military-industrial complex and the doomsday clock wired into its synthesized “ah ah ah,” the United States had not been in outright war during the entirety of her recorded career. That changed abruptly in January 1991 with the commencement of Operation Desert Storm and what eventually became known as Gulf War I. That conflict, and the questions it immediately posed about the lethality and morality of technological war, looms at the heart of Bright Red, alongside reflections on more personal types of grief and loss. Accordingly, Laurie chose a more stripped down sound with fewer instruments; the record is made with a relatively smaller number of collaborators, including percussionist Cyro Baptista, drummer Joey Baron, bassist Ben Fenner, guitarists Gerry Leonard,…