Today, Jenny Hval unveils the enchanting new single, ‘Buffy.’
+ Stream ‘Buffy’ on all platforms here +
‘Buffy’ began with Hval improvising on the synth, and the resulting chords express a hopeful loneliness, woven from a repetitive pattern. “Somehow I improvised some lyrics that referred to Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” says Hval, “probably just because I have watched it many times. I do like the idea that a TV series with many episodes, like Buffy, can be used as a creative and political rehearsal. An episodic form rehearsing overthrowing a dictatorship, a plutocracy, or theocracy?”Hval continues, “‘Buffy’ is not a song about a slayer, a superhero, or feminist icon. If anything, it’s a song about hope, but in an understated and episodic way. Because to me, hope is more hopeful when it is presented in a subtle way.”
In conjunction, Hval presents a beautiful live video of herself performing two standouts from Classic Objects, ‘Cemetery of Splendour‘ and ‘Classic Objects.’ The filmed session, recorded intimately at the Flerbruket studio an hour outside of Oslo, offers a glimpse into the magic of Hval’s uncanny, spellbinding world, merging the unreal with the mundane. Hval’s live video offers a glimpse into what audiences can expect from her current EU tour, which extends through the end of the month.
November
18th – Buchbasel, Basel, Switzerland*
19th – Kaserne, Basel, Switzerland
20th – Saint Ghetto Festival, Bern, Switzerland
22nd – Auditório de Espinho, Espinho, Switzerland
23rd – Culturgest, Lisbon, Portugal
24th – Gnration, Braga, Portugal
* – reading & conversation
Released in early 2022, Classic Objects is Hval’s version of a pop album. “In 2020, like everyone else, I was just a private person,” says Hval. “No artists were allowed to perform. I was reduced to ‘just me.’” As a result, Hval questioned what “just me” could mean. When she started writing stories that eventually became this record – exploring the stripped-down “just me” concept – the pandemic hit and she remembered specific times in her life that felt completely stripped of value; like when a celiac diagnosis halted the start of her music career. “This made me want to write simple stories,” Hval explains. “After all, a song isn’t just words, it has a melody, and the reason we have melodies is to step into the dark and jump off cliffs.”
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“Delightfully weird.” – The Independent ****
“Under Hval’s microscope, the seemingly straightforward is anything but.” – MOJO ****
“Unceasingly intriguing.” – The Observer ****
“Dazzling pop triumph.” – The Quietus
“Catchy vignettes coloured with both optimism and melancholy.” – The Wire