Any Human Friend

Any Human Friend is the third full-length studio album by English musician Marika Hackman. It was released on 9 August 2019 by AMF Records, Virgin EMI Records and Sub Pop.^[2][3]

Any Human Friend
Studio album by Marika Hackman
Released	9 August 2019
Recorded	Konk Studios, Coronet Studios, and Bayford Studio (London, England)
Genre	Indie rock[1]
Length	41:04
Label	AMF Virgin EMI Sub Pop
Producer	Marika Hackman David Wrench
Marika Hackman chronology
I'm Not Your Man (2017) Any Human Friend (2019) Big Sigh (2024)

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.1/10[4]
Metacritic	84/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
The Daily Telegraph	[7]
Financial Times	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Independent	[10]
The Observer	[11]
Paste	9.3/10[12]
Pitchfork	7.3/10[13]
Q	[14]
Uncut	8/10[15]

Any Human Friend received positive reviews from critics upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on 15 reviews.^[5]

Aimee Cliff of The Guardian praised the album, giving it a perfect score.^[9] In her review for The Independent, Alexandra Pollard called Any Human Friend "a blunt, bold album on which Hackman's beatific voice sits atop methodically messy instrumentals."^[10] Clare Martin of Paste gave the album a 9.3 out of 10, calling it "a treasure trove of zippy guitar hooks, glimmering synths and lemony vocals expertly curated by Hackman."^[12] Writing for PopMatters, Chris Ingalls called it "a quantum leap forward for Hackman, as the more fully-formed, full-band arrangements add a welcome element to her sharp lyrical content. The music is biting and arresting yet never manages to distract from what she's singing about. Rather, it creates new and exciting dimensions to what would have probably been great songs even with simple acoustic guitar accompaniment."^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Wanderlust"	3:17
2.	"The One"	3:37
3.	"All Night"	3:42
4.	"Blow"	3:30
5.	"I'm Not Where You Are"	3:46
6.	"Send My Love"	5:20
7.	"Hand Solo"	3:50
8.	"Conventional Ride"	4:10
9.	"Come Undone"	3:46
10.	"Hold On"	2:52
11.	"Any Human Friend"	3:14
Total length:		41:04

All tracks are written by Marika Hackman.^[16] "Wanderlust" produced by Hackman, all other tracks produced by Hackman and David Wrench

Notes

• All track titles are stylised in all lowercase.^[3]

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.^[16][17]

Musicians

• Marika Hackman – vocals (all tracks), guitar (all tracks), bass guitar (2–11), synthesizer (2–11), piano (2, 4, 11), bells (7), drums (10), string arrangement (3, 7, 9–11)
• David Wrench – percussion (2, 3, 7, 9, 11), Hammond organ (6), tambourine (8), theremin (8)
• Jessica Batour – drums (2–9, 11)
• Gillian Maguire – viola (3, 6, 7, 9–11), violin (3, 6, 7, 9–11)

Technical

• Marika Hackman – production (all tracks), mixing (1), recording engineering (1)
• David Wrench – production (2–11), mixing (2–11), recording engineering (2–11)
• Grace Banks – recording engineering (2, 4, 6, 7)
• Matt Colton – mastering (all tracks)

Packaging

• Joost Vandebrug – cover photography
• Bridget Beorse – design
• Dusty Summers – design

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18]	23
UK Albums (OCC)[19]	42

References

1. "Marika Hackman Cranks Up the Volume and the Honesty with 'Any Human Friend'". PopMatters. 8 August 2019.
2. "Marika Hackman Announces New Album, Any Human Friend". pastemagazine.com. 22 May 2019.
3. "Any Human Friend by Marika Hackman" – via music.apple.com.
4. "Any Human Friend by Marika Hackman reviews". www.anydecentmusic.com.
5. "Any Human Friend by Marika Hackman Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
6. "Any Human Friend - Marika Hackman | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
7. McCormick, Neil (1 August 2019). "Marika Hackman, Any Human Friend, review: this swaggering, sexy album is not for the faint-hearted". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
8. Taylor, Sam (9 August 2019). "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend — sapphic smut delivered sweetly". Financial Times. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
9. Cliff, Aimee (9 August 2019). "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend review – selfishness, sex and passion". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
10. "Marika Hackman's bold album Any Human Friend has a dark sexual energy". The Independent. 7 August 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022.
11. Joshi, Tara (11 August 2019). "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend review – frank breakup album". The Observer – via www.theguardian.com.
12. "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend". pastemagazine.com. 7 August 2019.
13. "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend". Pitchfork.
14. "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend". Q. No. 402. September 2019. p. 111.
15. "Marika Hackman: Any Human Friend". Uncut. No. 268. September 2019. p. 27.
16. Any Human Friend (Media notes). Marika Hackman. London: AMF Records. 2019. AMFLP0013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
17. "Any Human Friend di Marika Hackman - Musica - Universal Music Italia". www.universalmusic.it.
18. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 August 2019.