"Strange Angels" is the fifth album overall and fourth studio album by performance artist and singer Laurie Anderson, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1989. With this release, Anderson aimed to shift away from her previous image as a performance artist and embrace a more musical identity. Although music had always been part of her performances, it took a more prominent role on Strange Angels, leading Anderson to sing more than she had in past albums. The completion of the album was delayed for nearly a year as she took singing lessons, during which she discovered her soprano voice.
The album features contributions from vocal artist Bobby McFerrin, and its cover photo was taken by Robert Mapplethorpe, who passed away several months before the album's release. One track, "The Dream Before" (also known as "Hansel and Gretel Are Alive and Well"), had been introduced earlier in her short film What You Mean We?, while she had previously performed "Babydoll" and "The Day the Devil" on Saturday Night Live.
Reactions to Anderson's new direction were mixed; some critics praised her evolving style, while others accused her of abandoning her performance art roots, even though she soon began working on a major piece titled The Nerve Bible. Her next album would not be released for another five years. Strange Angels received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.
"Beautiful Red Dress" was covered in Portuguese by Brazilian singer Marina Lima in her 2006 album La nos Primordios, titled "Vestidinho Vermelho" ("Little Red Dress"). "The Dream Before" features the iconic phrase "history is an angel being blown backwards into the future," referencing Walter Benjamin's thoughts on Paul Klee's painting Angelus Novus, as outlined in his Theses on the Philosophy of History.
