Jenny Hval - Viscera

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IwDEUV6yA0

definitely my favorite so far, with a special treat for fans of the last album

the first Lost Girls LP is out on March

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/602bd80030935c407867c3a0/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/Lost-Girls.jpg

01 Menneskekollektivet
02 Losing Something
03 Carried by Invisible Bodies
04 Love, Lovers
05 Real Life

the structure of the title track is similar to "Drive" on the Feeling EP from 2018 (I think their only other release under the Lost Girls name?) - over 10 minutes, beginning with a long spoken word (in this case about jehovah's witnesses and an inverse "in the beginning" featuring darkness and silence) before building up to the more synth/singing/song-oriented last half.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ah7o9sxpHk

Love this. Enjoying hearing her stretch out over beats that aren't her usual.

Wish I still mixed, I would love to put this track in a set.

Lost Girls album is out, it's lovely.
Also still surprises me to hear the Australian in Hval's spoken word bits, even though I know she lived here for a while.

Where's it out? I see a pre-order link on Bandcamp ...

oh out tomorrow, I can wait.

ah i'd never noticed the australian influence in her accent before

album is great

can't wait to listen to the full thing!

i mean, i can wait. just saw lukas' post and thought well yeah, i can wait too i guess :)

It's on Spotify here--does that stagger releases by local date? I assumed it came out everywhere at once.

i don't see the album yet on spotify, just the two singles (menneskekollektivet and losing something)

it's not on Spotify here yet. it is not yet available in the United States. I am prevented from hearing it.

spotify staggers releases by local date in general except for the occasional major label pop album which gets a global worldwide release

i think people who enjoyed the title track will like the rest of the album too, it's similar in feeling but there's a lot of nice guitar soloing too

kind of reminds me of lindstrom & prin thomas's ii which i love

also maybe the closest we'll ever get to a new knife album? like it's not ripping them off or anything but very much feels like an unexplored direction they could have gone on

Damn that sold out quick :/

Listened to Menneskekollektivet after I saw it was a duo with Jenny Hval (from the cover I had thought probably a female indie rock band). I am not really feeling the long pieces, too meticulous and conceptual and not really gripping. Hval is not at her best. The true highlight turned out to be 'Real Life' (guitar also a nice addition on Losing Something).

New cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXhVN_oRcv8

if you like Jenny Hval, I recommend the new Tirzah album

I like both Jenny Hval & Tirzah - unsure how compatible they are. JennyH is far more wordy than Tirzah for one - that new Tirzah record has a kind of chilly, hazed ambiguity which is pointedly unpretentious in my mind. Part of her ineffable charm is that her songs have an unfinished , rough quality whereas Jenny H is unafraid of going into territory which sounds like she has composed dramatic decidedly 'unrandom' mini symphonies and she pairs this with lyrics which are an odd mixture of almost academic textbook ideas & visceral emotion. JennyH has got more material with probably more variety in there as wellm- Tirzah just has those two albums. Thinking this through now - it IS an interesting comparison and I can see some similarities in that they are both clearly thoughtful artists with layers of sub text - but the finished product for me & approach seems kinda opposite. Its got me thinking though.

so good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJB7UR91JrA

yes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i2oJJwgLTk

gorgeous

new album's very good, maybe not quite as good as the lost girls album last year but still very enjoyable

general vibe reminds me of aerial and animals so it's really made for me

Her music is often beautifully layered, here it's beautifully bare, natural-mechanical, and placing more focus on her solo voice, almost approaching Susanne Sundfør lyrical art pop. It feels very confident and accomplished. Not every composition hits, but each tries something out convincingly and the eight songs are consistent.

This is a really addictive and super-accessible album and I think my favourite Hval to date. Instantly gratifying as a fresh springtime pop album but there are layers and layers and layers to unpick. The structures are possibly less conventionally pop than on The Practice of Love but it is somehow a much easier and more nourishing listen.

the year of love is a fantastic song

Finally listening to this.

Given it is currently uncertain whether Julia Holter will make further albums in the vein of Have You In My Wilderness, I’m very grateful to Hval for stepping into the breach so consummately.

Why'd it take me so long to listen to this? Julia Holter vibes are right, Tim F. A rather stunning, accessible, naturalist pop record.

coincidentally listening to it right now. excellent album!

I've had this on my 'to listen' list for a while, just getting round to it now thanks to the thread bump. This is great so far, Year of Love is such an arresting song.

lovely new song, 'buffy':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoBkkXpvO9E

sublime

new lost girls album isn't as strong as menneskekollektivet or classic objects but is still quite nice