Molly Nilsson salvages hope from life's wreckage on Twenty Twenty

On her eighth album Twenty Twenty, Molly Nilsson searches for hope in the potential of the near future. The record takes it title from the year 2020: wishing on its numerological magic and its double meaning of clear vision. On opener “Every Night is New,” Nilsson sets the scene like a sci-fi documentarian (“It was a late-capitalist night / And I was feeling alright”), deftly encapsulating the anxiety of personal joy in the midst of global wreckage. The song is breathtakingly evocative of the specific hope that can ignite from the lowest ebb: “I don’t care if the world is through/Every night is new.” This could be the mission statement of the album, which considers topics including climate change (“A Slice of Lemon”) and political disaster (“Gun Control”) from a distinctly human perspective.

Nilsson’s characteristically deadpan delivery is present here, but the warmth of her arrangements and lyrical sentiment is more pronounced than it has ever been. Synthpop power ballad “Out Of The Blue” is a plea to stop procrastinating and make necessary personal changes; to escalate “out of the sorrow and into the new”. Equally soaring is “Days Of Dust” – a Springsteen anthem reimagined as European artpop – with Nilsson spurred on by her “burning building of desire.” Lead single “Serious Flowers” is a devastating stripped-back dance song, with an intuitive lyricism that recalls Robyn’s recent Honey; another excellent record about salvaging hope from worldly and interpersonal wreckage.

The more straightfordly pop moments on the album are no less affecting. Dreamy love song “I’m Your Fan” recalls Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man, both in its reversed-out title and the way it wrings longing and devotion from superficially corny production. Saxophone lines and twinkly electronics form a cocoon around Nilsson’s admissions of love: “When I’m walking down the street it’s like you’re holding both my hands.” In the context of the record, it’s a reminder that love and compassion can exist not in spite of, but alongside dire times. With Twenty Twenty, Molly Nilsson has made her most compelling case yet for the sustaining power of human emotions, two years into the future and beyond.