Slovenian industrial rockers Laibach have pushed artistic boundaries for more than 40 years. Sometimes at risk to themselves. In communist Yugoslavia during their National Service, their brand of anti-authoritarianism was not appreciated, and as late as last year they had to cancel concerts in Ukraine when comments that they made were (probably) misinterpreted, despite their overall support for the cause of combating aggression from Russian. They do not laugh at Fascists, they teach us to fear them. Their latest single is a version of “Strange Fruit.”
The key to a successful interpretation of this song is filling the liminal spaces between the devastating lyrics and the world they inhabit. Billie Holiday’s original arrangement had her beautiful, delicate voice bathed in a sophisticated jazz arrangement, contrasting the worlds of beauty and evil that man can create. In 2017, we noted that the song retained a modern relevance, with a version filled with contemporary R&B sounds. Some versions eschew setting completely by going acapella, leaving nothing to cushion the blow.
Laibach have included the song as part of their set for several years. For the recorded version they put the song in place and time by using the angular sounds of avant-garde European classical music of the first half of the 20th Century. There is no comfort to be had from any aspect of the piece. They do not cushion the blow of the words with a lush arrangement, or even bury it in an industrial soundscape. The basso profundo of Milan Fras can comfortably inhabit a big wall of sound, but it jars and unsettles when unaccompanied. The meaning of every word carries import, and is given space to express itself. Atonal piano is the only accompaniment. An unsettling but necessary experience.
