Laurie Anderson, Heart of a Dog - album review: A deeply moving soundtrack

Download: From the Air; The Bardo; A Story About a Story; The Lake

The second of this week’s meditations on love and death, Heart of a Dog is the soundtrack to Laurie Anderson’s film about the deaths of her mother and her dog Lolabelle, a rat terrier with whom she clearly had a close relationship.

As well as hovering tints of violin, string and synth pads, it incorporates the zen calm of Anderson’s entire voiceover – her most potent instrument, particularly when it’s offering a philosophical rumination on love, loss, memory, privacy, empathy and storytelling.

Typically for Anderson, it’s by turns whimsical, sinister, sad and funny as well as surprisingly educational, as she offers observations on animal behaviour, security surveillance, and the Buddhist approach to death, interspersed with childhood reminiscences and charming interactions with her canine chum. And in the end, it’s deeply moving in a way that “closure” couldn’t hope to equal.