Apocalypse, Girl (studio album) by Jenny Hval

It’s way too easy to diminish the accomplishments of Nordic female pop singers by saying they all sound like each other, but the first thought I had after listening to this album was how much it reminded me of the last Susanne Sundfør album. Which is relevant because I was quite disappointed by her new album and wanted something more in the vein of that last one. I should note however that Jenny Hval is very much an idiosyncratic musician and this album is a real joy.

Best track: That Battle Is Over. A great, dreamy rhythm plus the best lyrics on the record.

From SquishypuffDave 01/03/2016 04:59

Man, this album makes me FEEL THINGS. Hval is so self-revealing she makes everyone else look like a coward. Kingsize summons the most horrible feelings of dread (NOT THE BANANAS), Take Care Of Yourself aches with the weight of a million vaginas, and on Heaven after she says "I want to sing religiously", does she literally turn into a bird and start flying into the night sky? Good grief, what a beautiful voice. It's a raw confronting experience somewhere in the vicinity of an ego death, attacking parts of my psyche that were laying dormant. There's so much gravity here that it demands complete attention and doesn't work any other way. She's one of those rare artists that seems to have the ability to connect a transmitter directly from her brain into yours. Her lyrics are like those weird fuzzy early morning thoughts you have as you're waking up, where it feels like you're solving some really important internal puzzle and everything is equal and nothing is taboo and your conscious identity hasn't fully uploaded yet so the real fundamental essence of what you are has a chance to- damn, it's gone. It's not so much that her music is otherworldly and escapist, it's more like she draws your attention to the strange ambiguous elements of what it means to be a human being in waking life. The kind of thing your brain likes to shift its awareness away from whenever it can in favour of the mundane. Apocalypse, Girl is a temporary escape into reality.

From Amirkhosro 10/13/2015 00:07

Proud to be alive in this day and age.

From HoldenM 07/23/2015 04:23

Like a weird Björk/Fever Ray hybrid.

I enjoy it thoroughly.

From ButterThumbz 07/13/2015 13:39

Must have had my head up my arse to have not been listening to this every day since the moment it was released.

The nightmares are still kinky and capriciously disorientating, but she's getting ever closer to finding out what's on the other side of that big, dark wall.

From zags7000 06/17/2015 07:40

There was some good material here but overall I liked her previous albums better.

From Norman Bates 05/24/2015 17:33

I'm not convinced by every thing she tries. But overall it's really good, and the last track is damn near sublime.