Norwegian experimental artist Jenny Hval is not one to shy away from the provocative. Her’s latest album, “Innocence Is Kinky”, introduces a more aggressive element and experiments with genres, enhancing the subtler, stream-of-consciousness art-pop style of her earlier work. Her intimate, closely miked whispers—recorded over quiet loops—give way to screams and shrieks backed by noisy guitar jabs as she explores issues of sex and gender identity alongside often surreal imagery.
Look out for Hval this spring when she tours to the States and hits the road with Swans and Mark McGuire.
Jenny Hval is a an ambient/electro-indie/art rock singer-songwriter and novelist from Oslo. In the late 1990s, she was in a goth-metal band, but since then, she’s been making music that people often compare to the likes of Laurie Anderson and Björk. She released two albums under the name Rocettothesky, and has released two under her own given name. Next week, her third album “Apocalypse, Girl” comes out on Sacred Bones Records.
I didn’t know too much about Jenny Hval Anyway, the point is that Jenny Hval is often compared to Björk, so I kinda feared that it was the “weird Björk” that people compared her to. The MedullaBjörk. When I listened to a couple of the new Jenny Hval songs I was immediately smitten with her voice . Sure, this is some stuff that most people would consider “weird”, but I like it. If this is like Björk, this is like the late-90s Björk. Like Vespertine,
While I haven’t tracked down any of the older stuff, I’ve heard the new album, and I really like it. There’s some harsh moments though. The album is strewn with some pretty graphic references to male and female genitalia, and to sex. It’s actually fairly erotic. It’s not an album that you can listen to with your grandmother. It is, though, an album that rewards the listener for patience and thorough listening. Here’s one of my favorites:
This song has some elements that remind me of Broadcast, Oviously I’m not saying that Jenny Hval sings like the late Trish Keenan or like Björk. The synths and the drums sound like Broadcast. The overall “feel” of the song is kinda Björk-esque. Sexy and mysterious and weird. In the best kind of way.
“Apocalypse, girl” comes out next week. You can pre-order it via bandcamp here. You can also buy physical versions of the album, or bundle an LP with a t-shirt at the label’s web shop. If you’re looking at that t-shirt wondering what “soft dick rock” means, it’s a reference to a line in the first song from the album. That first song “Kingsize” is itself a reference to a collection of poems by Danish poet Mette Moestrup. The first line of the song is a line from one of Moestrup’s poems.
Hval’s latest novel is called Perlebryggeriet, (which means “Pearl brewery”) and it hasn’t been translated from Norwegian. So if you’re fluent in Norwegian, you should buy her book . They say it’s set in a “fictional town somewhere between Glasgow and Melbourne” and that it’s about some kids living together while their house turns itself inside out. I got a big kick out of that “between Glasgow and Melbourne” line. That’s a distance of 17,000 km approx.
On “That Battle Is Over,”Jenny Hval spills her guts like it’s no big deal: these days every thing I write begins with the question, “What’s wrong with me?” That’s only one of several dozen ideas that spill out of the Norwegian singer-songwriter’s brain in the span of four minutes. The track is the first single from “Apocalypse, Girl” , the follow up to Hval’scollaborative LP with Susanna and her first full-length since signing to Brooklyn label Sacred Bones.
In a press release, Jenny Hval said the song—which is just built on a percussive loop, some organ chords, and Hval’s angelic multi-tracked vocalizations—is intentionally “flat,” and that it’s like her version of Fiona Apple karaoke. While it’s true that the song’s melody mirrors “Criminal” in a few places, “That Battle Is Over” feels more conceptual than that comparison allows; it’s like a weird, rambling, Hval-ian take on the idea of a “pop song” in general. “Apocalypse, Girl” is out on June 9th.
The Fat Angel Sings 