After collaborating together for more than a decade, Jenny Hval and Håvard Volden released their first album under the Lost Girls moniker in 2021: “Menneskekollektivet”. The record received rave reviews, including a Best New Music mark at Pitchfork. Now the duo release their second album “Selvutsletter”.
This the second album from Jenny Hval and Håvard Volden’s collaborative project Lost Girls, “Selvutslette”r is eight songs packed to the brim with avant-garde pop music and post-modern reflections on pleasure, dancing and experimentalism. It’s as primitive as a Bjӧrk record, as intoxicating as Hounds of Love-era Kate Bush. It’s not quite as immediately accessible as the pop radio workings of Hval’s own solo work, especially her 2022 album “Classic Objects” but “Selvutsletter” is relentless in its own pursuit towards organic electronica. Guitars and synthesizers flicker and haunt, as Hval and Volden solidify the magnetism of their own creative partnership.
Songs like “With the Other Hand” and “World on Fire” sound like they’re straight from a time capsule but, like the standout track “Ruins,” “Selvutsletter” sounds unlike anything Hval and Volden have ever made. It’s one of the best electronic albums of 2023.
Where “Menneskekollektivet” was about exploring club beats, and expanding and trying out structures, “Selvutsletter” is about disappearing in experiences. It combines the intuitive, late night feel of Lost Girls’ previous work with experimental rock music as its object. The result is more adventurous than nostalgic: A fiery, bilingual whirl of colours, words, vegetation and electricity.
The Fat Angel Sings 