Albertine Sarges

This side of Scritti Politti, few albums start off with funky notes and reflections on the status quo of academic theories, but »The Sticky Fingers« is just such a record. Albertine Sarges has been a busy touring musician, having regularly shared the stage with Kat Frankie and Holly Herndon, and under the pseudonym of Ossi Viola in Itaca, her Italo disco duo with Lo Selbo. With the pandemic, Sarges experienced a loss of work but her bearings: while others deepened their sourdough-bread-baking skills, she instead toiled away on her debut album, based on her work with the band that lends the LP its title. »The Sticky Fingers« quotes Talking Heads alongside intersectional theorist Sara Ahmed, bringing swirling rock rhythms together with flutes and wistful strings. It’s loaded with ideas, and that’s exactly what it sounds like – but not like a boring seminar, instead like pop modernity in action.