Jenny Hval boosts the confidence of shy nerds everywhere with new LP Innocence Is Kinky, out in May on Rune Grammofon

Jenny Hval boosts the confidence of shy nerds everywhere with new LP Innocence Is Kinky, out in May on Rune Grammofon

I remember it almost distinctly: it was around the month of August, in the year 2011, and I was just about to join a lesser-known offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, whose tagline was, “We are the 1%… of unabashed male pantyhose-wearers.” As I was browsing the web, caressing my synthetically soft and silky thighs with one hand and fingering my laptop’s trackpad with the other, I recalled that I had an album to listen to. Jenny Hval’s LP Viscera had entered my radar somehow, though I knew nothing about it, nor the Norwegian artist/writer whose named garnished the cover.

So the first track began:

“I arrived in town… with an electric toothbrush…”

I settled in for what I thought was another innocuous and somewhat quirky folk album.

“… pressed…”

Uh.

“… against my clitoris.”

WHAAAAAAT?!

Apparently Hval isn’t exactly keen on lyrical or creative restraint, and the second album under her own name, Innocence Is Kinky, would appear to continue that trend, going by the title alone. Due May 14 on Rune Grammofon, the album features a string section led by avant-garde composer Ole Henrik Moe, and was produced by John Parish — who, usefully, is a long-time collaborator with PJ Harvey. Emotionally revealing. Intellectually thoughtful. Potential references to genitalia. You can barely ask for more.

Innocence Is Kinky tracklisting:

01. Innocence Is Kinky
02. Mephisto in the Water
03. I Called
04. Oslo Oedipus
05. Renée Falconetti of Orléans
06. Give Me That Sound
07. I Got No Strings
08. Is There Anything on Me That Doesn’t Speak?
09. Amphibious, Androgynous
10. Death of the Author
11. The Seer

• Jenny Hval: http://jennyhval.com
• Rune Grammofon: http://www.runegrammofon.com

[Photo: Gunhild Varvin/Henie Onstad Kunstsenter]

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