Continuing in the grand tradition of all those great female Nordic pop music experimentalists – a line that can be traced from its pioneering queen, Björk to the likes of MØ, Linnea Olson and Sea Change – is Norwegian artist Jenny Hval.
To herald the arrival of her new album Apocalypse, girl in June, Hval has just revealed the record’s first single ‘The Battle Is Over’. She describes the song as being “inspired by a great wish to sing karaoke. These songs are flat like that – they are so direct that there’s no background. Trying to create one makes the song more shallow. Or worse – makes the listener obsolete.”
This gently undulating slice of woozy, off-kilter electronic pop transcends any conventional wisdom we might have about karaoke music and whilst Hval’s fear may be that the listener is ultimately removed from this entire experience, here we can only stand by and look on in quiet astonishment at the sheer mystical beauty of the song.
Jenny Hval’s Apocalypse, girl is out June 8th on Sacred Bones Records and available for pre-order here
https://soundcloud.com/sacredbones/jenny-hval-that-battle-is-over/
Jenny Hval tour dates:
March
3 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall w/ St. Vincent
4 – Toronto, ON @ The Danforth Music Hall w/ St. Vincent
5 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall w/ St. Vincent
6 – South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Ballroom w/ St. Vincent
7 – Clifton Park, NY @ Upstate Concert Hall w/ St. Vincent
8 – Providence, RI @ Lupo’s w/ St. Vincent
16 – Columbus, OH @ Wexner Center w/ Perfume Genius
17 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat w/ Perfume Genius
19 – New York, NY @ Stage 48 w/ Perfume Genius
20 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair w/ Perfume Genius
21 – Providence, RI @ Columbus Theatre w/ Perfume Genius
23 – Hamden, CT @ The Outer Space w/ Perfume Genius
24 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer w/ Perfume Genius
25 – Kingston, NY @ BSP Kingston w/ Perfume Genius
27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Andy Warhol Museum w/ Perfume Genius
29 – Brooklyn, NY @ Alphaville
June
4 – Sun. June 7 – Oslo, NO @ Black Box Teater – Apocalypse, girl expanded concerts
10 – London, UK @ Royal Festival Hall w/ Perfume Genius
11 – Manchester, UK @ Gullivers
12 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & The Ruin
13 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
14 – London, UK @ Cafe Oto
17 – Amsterdam, NL @ Muziekgebouw
18 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
19 – Paris, FR @ Espace B
20 – Cologne, DE @ Stadtgarten w/ Circuit de Yeux
22 – Berlin, DE @ Kantine am Berghain w/ Circuit de Yeux
23 – Hamburg, DE @ Kampnagel w/ Circuit de Yeux
24 – Copenhagen, DK @ Jazzhouse w/ Circuit de Yeux
