Anus (album)

Background

In November 2012, Honard was announced as one of the fourteen drag queens who would be competing on the fifth season of reality competition RuPaul's Drag Race, but would be known by the mononym Alaska, with the last name Thunderfuck omitted. During the show, Honard provided lyrics for a charity single, "Can I Get An Amen?" Shortly after filming RuPaul's Drag Race, Honard penned his first songs. The first, titled "Ru Girl", was released in December 2013, although it ultimately did not make the cut for Anus. Honard also wrote "Nails", which eventually was released as the second single from the album.

Concerning the album's title, Honard stated “It was the only thing I could call it. There’s nothing else. There’s simply no other title.”

Music and lyrics

All songs on the album are issued with the explicit tag, indicating swearing, except the piano introduction to "Nails".

The album's opening track, "Hieeee", incorporates one of Honard's signature catchphrases, the elongated pronunciation of the word Hi. Honard summed the song up as "drag 101", stating that it utilized many drag queen sayings normally used in bar and club culture, including phrases such as "the more you drink, the prettier we look." Honard cited the buildup compiled of Laganja Estranja quotes as his favorite part of the song.

The sixth and seventh tracks on the album, "Nails (Piano Introduction)" and "Nails", run concurrently in the songs' music video, but are split for the release of the album. "Nails" was one of the earliest tracks penned for Anus, written shortly after filming for RuPaul's Drag Race had concluded. The song was inspired by Honard's newfound love for artificial nails, and the feeling they give him when wearing them. Honard described "Nails (Piano Introduction)" as "show tunes-y". Honard cites "cat scratch fever, look like Sigourney Weaver, are you June Cleaver or a Labrador Retriever?" as his favorite line from the track.

The song "This Is My Hair", was originally a deep, politically-driven song discussing the economy and teenage prostitution; however, the production company did not like the original version and requested Honard re-write it. Upon re-listening to the beat, he was inspired by the offensive remark of somebody telling a drag queen that they love their wig, as opposed to them loving their hair. Honard revealed the reason he sang with a Croatian accent was because he had just finished performing there. He cites "I take my vitamins" as one of his favorite lyrics from the song.

Singles

On June 10, 2014, "Your Makeup Is Terrible" was released as the first single from Anus. Pitchfork Media named the song as the best song ever by a RuPaul's Drag Race contestant. The video for "Your Makeup Is Terrible" was released on June 9, 2014, and was directed by Saša Numić.

On December 9, 2014, "Nails" was released as the second single from the album. Nails was also supported by the promotional separate release of the song's music video introduction, released on the same day as the main single. Honard described the video in his Let the Music Play episode: "The video's really cool, and it starts out with the piano introduction, which is like, really sweet and like, show tunes-y. It's like, really sweet and serene and she's in outer space, and then, the spaceship crashes. She gets abducted by an evil, nefarious, secret-agent-type man, who then takes her to an interrogation room and is like, ripping off her nails, with like, pliers".

On June 9, 2015, "Hieeee" was released as the third single from Anus. "Hieeee" charted at number five on the US Billboard Comedy Digital Tracks chart, becoming Honard's second appearance on a Billboard chart (the first being "American Apparel Ad Girls" with Courtney Act and Willam, which peaked at number ten on the same chart). "Hieeee" was noted as being the "best of the worst" songs by RuPaul's Drag Race contestants by Pitchfork Media. Two videos were released to promote the single, both released on June 8, 2015. One video was dubbed the "official" video, and was filmed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the closing night of the Battle of the Seasons tour. The other video was titled the "unofficial" video, and featured Honard showcasing gifts he had received from fans during his career.

On June 23, 2015, the same day as the album's release, "This Is My Hair" was released as Anus's fourth single.

In an interview with NOISEY, Honard stated that he plans to shoot music videos for the tracks "Anus", “The Shade of It All”, "Pussy", and "Gimme All Your Money".

Release and promotion

The artwork and track listing for Anus was released on June 9, 2015. The album received a worldwide released on June 23, 2015, via digital distributors. The CD version of the album was released on July 21, 2015, while an LP version was released on November 13, 2015.

Similarly to how Sharon Needles and Adore Delano promoted their albums PG-13 and Till Death Do Us Party, Honard released a series of videos through the YouTube channel of World of Wonder, titled Let The Music Play. During these videos, Honard would choose a different song each episode, and discuss the songs background, content and meaning in detail. The premiere episode focused on the then-recently released single "This Is My Hair".

The song "Everything Tonight" was featured as background music in a segment of Today.

Critical reception

Anus received highly positive reviews from critics.

In his review for NOISEY, John Hill simply stated, "Anus is a really fucking good album.".

In his list of "The Best and Worst Music of RuPaul's Drag Divas" for Pitchfork Media, Andy Emitt praised "Your Makeup Is Terrible" and "Hieee", writing that "If any 'Drag Race' diva rivals the immaculate confection of "Supermodel (You Better Work)", it is Alaska Thunderfuck with 'Your Makeup Is Terrible'. In her indescribable voice, Alaska satirizes the dance genre’s formulaic predictability on the song’s bridge, narrating its rhythmic shift as if surprised herself," later noting "the RuPaulian tradition in Alaska’s ability to bridge the song’s queer, camp elements with pop music aspirations through a club-ready beat." Emitt went on to list "Hieee" as one of the "fabulously worst" tracks from Drag Race Divas: "... the song sounds like the catchphrase-ready queen running out of new material live on the studio mic. Apparently, this isn’t a problem—the track thumps the hollow but always captivating reservoir of Thunderfuck tonality and delivery... When drag divas produce garbage, at least we’re laughing with them."

Matthew Carenza for The Magic Critique gave the album four out of five stars, commenting that "Alaska's creative genius has continually been growing over the years, and her new album is a testament to that." Carenza went on to say that the album is "so incredibly different than any of the other queens' albums, and it's one hundred percent authentically Alaska. It's a labor of love for Alaska and everyone should grab a copy and support this queen because she's simply beyond."

Luis Gonzalez for Album Confessions awarded the album four out of five stars, commenting that "staying true to her devoted fan base and her drag aesthetic allows Alaska to go above and beyond musical expectations. While it's nice to hear that the performer has not lost her comedic chops or her likable and one-of-a-kind personality, the album easily maneuvers around serious subject matter and topics buried deep within the Drag Bible."

Commercial performance

Upon release, Anus topped the iTunes Dance albums chart. For the week of July 11, 2015, Anus appeared on three Billboard charts: number four on the Heatseekers, an extension to the Billboard 200; number three on the Dance/Electronic Albums; and number fourteen on the Independent Albums chart. In comparison to other RuPaul's Drag Race alumni, Anus was a commercial success, peaking higher than projects from fellow contestants Willam, Miss Fame, and Violet Chachki.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Anus.