Jenny Hval- Blood Bitch (2016) Review

Jenny Hval- Blood Bitch (2016) Review

By: Ghost Writer

Two Norwegian experimental music legends got together in order to deliveries one of the most forward thinking and adventurous recording of last year, Jenny Hval's Blood Bitch is undoubtedly one of the best records made in 2016, Hval's, an ascending artist has been able to come up with record after record of heavy intellectual music with a daring sense of innovation making us rethink the idea that Norway is something else beyond brutal raw black metal and Lillyhammer, that wonderful t.v. series.

Hval's is slowly becoming the rightful heir to Bjork's throne of avant garde queen, even starting to achieve astonishing results from unexpected collaborations, this time sharing production credits with Norway's undisputed noise king Lasse Marhaug, another high risk taker that to his credit has some awesome collaborations with people like the mighty Sunn O))), but in Blood Bitch don't expect Marhaug's well known noise storms, here Marhaug is sharing Hval's vision of creating truly disconcerting music within pop music context, Ritual Awakening for example, enjoys some of Marhaug's trademark texture treatments, it's abrasive and rough at the edges, with Hval immersed in a dark storm of electronic vibrant sounds, a formula followed and better developed in Female Vampire, where production values really get the chance to shine, in a very dark context of course, Hval's vocals are just the perfect vehicular to guide us through the dynamic sounds, almost like an inverse version of the always shiny Stereolab, it sounds like a train, bit one that's totally under Hval's control and displaying Hval's always discomforting themes, here showing some parallels with Andy Warhol's Dracula, where vampires gather along menstrual blood (the trend or concept continued on Period Piece).

Another interesting piece comes in the form of the almost krautrock inspired In The Red, with Hval harsh vocal arrangements, her heavy circular breathing and her ear piercing screams set against an almost ambient backing, yes, in a way is a red hot mix, followed by the wonderful pop of Conceptual Romance, a beautiful captivating piece with Hval at her best, at times recalling Yoko Ono intense and sensible delivery.

Marhaug's abrasive elements are more prominent at certain points in The Great Undressing, another great piece by this couple, this time with glowing synths along Hval's beautiful vocal styling, this time the electronic arrangements go for the sheer beauty, it's a wonderful work, perfectly detailed and beautifully arranged, leaving us ready for another stunning piece named Period Piece, with wonderful synthetic bass and whirlwind like atmosphere, reminding me a little bit of pop oriented works by the mighty Kraftwerk circa Radioactivity, one of my favorite works by the German electronic pioneers.

Hval's returns again at Yoko Ono's sound on Secret Touch, even recalling at times Yoko's dissonant vocal exercises, musically it's perhaps one of the most accessible pieces of the record, albeit its accessible in a quite abstract way, with Marhaug's production channeling a dark side into Hval's cerebral approach, although not close to metal, you can in a way sense where Hval's and Marhaug's inspiration is coming from, Blood Bitch is another challenging piece by Hval, a wonderful collection of ultra-dark abstract pop, reaffirming Hval and Marhaug's mastery at working together again in what surely is one of the best recordings of 2016.