I am always surprised by how pop the music of Norwegian singer Jenny Hval is. Of course, it’s easy to remember her as experimental and ethereal, but once again I’m struck by how strongly her songs are infused with melody. This puts her in the same league as other goddesses of art-pop: Björk, Kate Bush, Julia Holter.
Take »All Night Long«, a great song on her new album Iris Silver Mist, which is almost (!) as great as Lionel Richie’s song of the same name. Especially when Jenny Hval sings the title, she surfs on a beautiful melody. The song also reminds me of »Reckoner«, my favorite Radiohead song, which of course makes it even better. The lyrics are about the longing for authenticity: Hval describes the impersonal (»It doesn’t ask me where I’m from«) and goal-oriented (»Asking me to please make a choice«) nature of making music on the computer, calls autotune too slow, and wishes for a physical presence — the aftermath of the pandemic plays a role, she says.
»To Be A Rose« already shows the original way in which she conveys this desire for authenticity: through smells. Cigarettes, roses — the album is named after a perfume by Maurice Roucel. On Iris Silver Mist, Jenny Hval becomes a greater perfume genius than Perfume Genius and Jeremy Fragrance put together. Smells are hard to describe, and yet they exist — just like music (»You almost died, but still smell alive«). Every sound on Iris Silver Mist seems tangible. Or, uh, smellable.
