The Sharpest, Most Fearless Electronic-leaning Rock Record You Will Hear This Month

SOTD: “Damsels” by The Anchoress

Aug 10, 2026

Catherine Anne Davies, the creative force behind The Anchoress, is officially back, and frankly, she has zero time for your patronizing questions. Releasing her third studio album on August 7, 2026, As We Once Were, Davies abandoned the standard indie-rock formula to borrow Pete Townshend’s vintage analogue synthesizers. The result is a massive, 14-track exploration of time, transformation, and the sheer audacity of being a woman who dared to have a child without misplacing her brain. If you were hoping for a polite, quiet acoustic retreat into motherhood, you have clearly misunderstood The Anchoress.

To understand As We Once Were, it is helpful to trace the trajectory of her work so far. Her 2016 debut, Confessions of a Romance Novelist, established her sharp lyrical voice and literary sensibilities, while 2021’s The Art of Losing confronted grief through a lens of profound orchestration and emotional vulnerability. Where the sophomore record wrestled directly with loss, As We Once Were shifts toward reclamation and self-determination. The album addresses the realities of motherhood and societal expectations without losing any of its intellectual bite. Thoughtful collaborations—such as James Dean Bradfield’s guitar work on “Throw Over Your Man” and Gwenno’s contribution to “I Had a Baby Not a Lobotomy”—help anchor the album’s thematic weight while expanding its sonic boundaries.

Amidst a deeply cohesive tracklist, “Damsels” emerges as the album’s defining moment. Originally inspired by the Manic Street Preachers song “Faster,” The song features a compelling duet with Eaves Wilder, and successfully marries the atmospheric grandeur of dream-pop pioneers like Cocteau Twins with modern alternative structures. The production is immense, giving both vocalists plenty of room to weave around those massive synths. It strikes a perfect balance between sweeping pop and biting lyricism, making it the sort of track that forces you to hit replay before the final note even fades out.