Jenny Hval

Nytt album ute nå: Viscera

Jenny Hval også tidligere kjent under artistnavnet Rockettothesky er ute med sin første plate under eget navn. Hun har sin bakgrunn fra skrive- og performancestudier, og setter teksten i sentrum for et musikalsk uttrykk som er både direkte og poetisk, melodisk og åpent.

Hval har utgitt to plater som Rockettothesky. I 2006 kom debuten “To Sing You Apple Trees og Medea i 2008.

Etter “Medea” skrev Jenny Hval romanen “Perlebryggeriet” (2009, Kolon forlag), og fremførte og skrev bestillingsverket “Meshes of Voice” sammen med Susanna Wallumrød, komponerte en låt for trioen BOA til Ultimafestivalen 2009 og arbeidet med forestillingen “Take my voice” sammen med forfatteren Inger Bråtveit. Hennes egen musikk tok også en ny retning: Hun begynte å spille live med fri impro-musikerne Håvard Volden og Kyrre Laastad.

I mars i år kom hennes første plate (Viscera)  under eget navn ut på selskapet Rune Grammofon til glimrende anmeldelser både i Norge og utlandet. Nå er hun klar for konsert på Mono og vi anbefaler å være tidlig ute for å slippe inn. Førstemann til mølla prinsippet.  Her blir det fullt!

Jenny Hval

Viscera

Jenny Hval is a Norwegian artist and writer. With her background in writing and performance her music is poetic, sensual, challenging, dark and beautiful as well as melodic and spacious.

“Viscera” is set in the body. The songs are stories of flesh and travelling, both sensual and provocative. She wanted to make free music, without a conceptual framework, but realised after recording the album that all the songs deal with travelling in one way or another. Some songs have a modernist protagonist – an unknown and yet present I – whereas other songs take place in the body, visceral travelling. Inside becomes outside, the body is turned inside out.

The music for “Viscera” was composed and arranged by improvising. It follows the lyrics wherever they go: spoken word, surrealist folk tales, or just plain provocative imagery. Modernist fantasy? Fantastic anatomy?

“Viscera” is the first album using her own name.

In 2006, Hval released her successfull debut album “To Sing You Apple Trees” under the moniker Rockettothesky. The album received rave reviews and became a surprise hit with its mix of pop, poetry and rampant sexuality. She was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy in the Best New Act category and she played most of the big Norwegian festivals in 2007, as well as shows and small festivals in UK and Europe.

With her second album, “Medea” (2008, also as Rockettothesky), a different and more experimental tone was set. Hval invoked the greek tragic heroine Medea – the monstrous mother, powerful sorceress, and foreign woman – through spoken word and improvised sound textures. She also started playing live with free improv musicians Håvard Volden (guitar) and Kyrre Laastad (drums & percussion).

Since the release of Medea, Hval has completed several other projects: composing and performing the commissioned piece “Meshes of Voice” with singer and composer Susanna Wallumrød (Susanna and the Magical Orchestra) for Ladyfest 2009, composing and performing at the Ultima Festival for Contemporary Music, published the slightly controversial novel “Perlebryggeriet” (“The Pearl Brewery”, 2009) and started a free folk/improv duo with Håvard Volden (Nude on Sand).

Tracks
Engines In The City, Blood Flight, Portrait Of A Young Girl As An Artist, How Gentle, A Silver Fox, Golden Locks, This Is A Thirst, Milk Of Marrow, Black Morning, Viscera

http://www.musikknyheter.no/record/7936

http://jennyhval.com/