Oops! Is Jenny Hval making pop music now? In any case, all the songs on the new album »Classic Objects« actually have a verse and a chorus, there are melodies to hum along to and grand gestures. This is a far cry from the experimental sound of their third album »Apocalpyse, girl« from 2015. The following concept album about vampires, »Blood Bitch«, had a bit more pop appeal. But Jenny Hval has probably never been heard as accessible as on the new eight songs. Despite the unexpected, gentle melodiousness, »Classic Objects« is not suitable as background music and with song lengths of up to eight minutes, the radio or playlist suitability is also manageable. The fact that Hval was inspired by the Qawwali recordings of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the ashram tapes of Alice Coltrane almost fits into the picture again, because there is also a lot of drumming on »Classic Objects«. With a bright voice, the artist from Oslo sings about various places she missed or fantasised about during the pandemic. These are places of longing like the now empty pubs in Melbourne where her band used to play, public spaces or imaginary, dreamed-up, hallucinated places. These are not only described and conveyed through the music, but appear concretely themselves: like the humming, buzzing, chirping flower meadow at the end of »Cemetery Of Splendour« or the synth drone that lasts for minutes, which you might hear on the way to “Jupiter”. For long stretches, you can retreat into your own memories and fantasies, but at the latest when Hval sings lines like »I wanna live in a democracy«, the escapism comes to an end. So don’t be fooled by the sweet, beautiful sound – Jenny Hval is still concerned with themes like self-empowerment and gestures of resistance.
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