Interview: Jenny Hval

The temptation to pigeonhole musicians is one few music writers can resist. It’s a quick and easy shorthand meaning nobody has to think too much about what they actually sound like. But sometimes an artist emerges who defies such simple classification. Variously described as a singer-songwriter, experimental artist and creator of avant-garde pop, Norway’s Jenny Hval is one of them. How does she view and hear her own work?

”What is experimental?” she wonders. “It seems to be a very subjective term. At the moment I also see it around everywhere – everyone is experimental, every festival is experimental. It must be trendy. I’m definitely not trendy, so that means that my music isn’t experimental.” Jenny’s work incorporates elements of noise music and she has worked with renowned noise artist and producer Lasse Marhaug, which may seem a little surprising on first listen to her songs. “To me there’s not a huge difference between noise sequences and sequences of found sound, “ she says, “or heightened emotion, intense power, sudden shifts…those things are central to how I write. But there are strong elements of Lasse’s work on the album. He definitely has a noise sensibility and a great ear for mixing. I learn a lot from that.” 

Jenny Hval’s lyrics are startlingly open and honest, yet framed by stunning melodies. Some may say this apparent discord between words and music adds to their power. “A beautiful melody and jarring lyrics is a perfectly natural thing,” she feels. “Humans are complex, aren’t we? And beauty isn’t a problem. It always comes with baggage, it’s just about looking closer. Sometimes I find words there, sometimes a way of singing. Other times it’s more of an ambient thing – I find a reverb sound I like. The unconscious comes both with and without lyrics!”??????

“Most of the time I use spoken word when I’m too lazy to come up with a song,” she continues, “or the lyrics just seem better as spoken pieces. With Kingsize for example it was spontaneous, it was written in the studio and I just never thought of making a melody for those words.”??????

Jenny’s lyrics can be very funny and witty, and some have been shocked by the explicit terms in which she discusses and dissects sexuality and sexual behaviour. “I rarely get that response from people when they come see me play”, she counters. “One person left once, that’s all I know. It seems to be more of a media thing than a music/live performance or audience/ listener thing.”??????

All of Jenny’s albums have cinematic qualities, so an obvious question would be which director she would write a soundtrack for. “I make music that’s a film in itself”, she says. “It could never be on in the background. Who would want all those lyrics, all those voices? I would destroy the film. But I’m watching a lot of Jess Franco movies these days, and they are so weird and wonderful and lo-fi and randomly put together I keep thinking I could do something with it. Also, half the dialogue is so bad it could probably just be taken out.”

Jenny Hval plays the Lantern on November 9