Norwegian singer and art-pop composer Jenny Hval will be releasing her latest record, Blood Bitch, on 30th September on Sacred Bones Records. The follow up to last year’s Apocalypse, Girl has again been co-produced by previous collaborator, noise producer Lasse Marthaug and, in Hval’s words, it is “an investigation of blood. Blood that is shed naturally. The purest and most powerful, yet most trivial, and most terrifying blood: menstruation. The white and red toilet roll chain which ties together the virgins, the whores, the mothers, the witches, the dreamers, and the lovers.”
To coincide with the announcement, Hval has also shared the album’s first single, ‘Female Vampire,’ an ethereal slice of gothic pop where her voice glides gently over horn flourishes and synth drones. Listen below.
Speaking more of Blood Bitch, Hval said: “Blood Bitch is also a fictitious story, fed by characters and images from horror and exploitation films of the ’70s. With that language, rather than smart, modern social commentary, I found I could tell a different story about myself and my own time: a poetic diary of modern transience and transcendence.” She continues: “There is a character in this story that is a vampire Orlando, traveling through time and space. But there is also a story here of a 35-year old artist stuck in a touring loop, and wearing a black wig. She is always up at night, jet lagged, playing late night shows – and by day she is quietly resting over an Arp Odyssey synthesizer while a black van drives her around Europe and America.”
Hval also spoke of the album’s more personal nature: “this is my most fictional and most personal album. It’s also the first album where I’ve started reconnecting with the goth and metal scene I started out playing in many years ago, by remembering the drony qualities of Norwegian Black Metal. It’s an album of vampires, lunar cycles, sticky choruses, and the smell of warm leaves and winter.”
In October, the singer will be heading out on a European tour, with three dates in the UK. She will also be playing at End of the Road Festival in September. Details below.
1st-5th September – End of the Road Festival
17th October – Stereo, Glasgow
18th October – Soup Kitchen, Manchester
19th October – Oslo, London
