Jenny Hval’s music has often looked at a woman’s place in society, and her eighth album starts in a familiar place, pondering the institution of marriage: a guy proposing at one of her gigs, as well as her own wedding. The Norwegian singer songwriter reassures us that she only got into this patriarchal construct for “contractual reasons”. But as “Classic Objects” unfolds, that sense of certainty melts away as Hval interrogates how her identity and values were formed, and what she really believes in. As weighty as that sounds, the music is loosely dubby and shimmering, and Hval finds humour, lightness and transcendence in her searching.
The glorious sophistipop of “American Coffee”—who else in pop music can make us groove to lyrics about watching The Passion of Joan of Arc while “having a UTI”?
Female genius in pop music, subtly epic song writing. ‘American Coffee’ by Jenny Hval is taken from new album ‘Classic Objects’, out now via 4AD Records.
The Fat Angel Sings 