Norwegian musician and novelist Jenny Hval has had a busy few years, with her third novel To Hate God receiving an English translation and release in 2020 and the release of her project Menneskekollektivet in 2021, made in collaboration with Håvard Volden under the name Lost Girls. Today (Jan. 18), Hval announces her forthcoming album Classic Objects, out March 11 via Sacred Bones, alongside her latest single “Year of Love.”
Much like the album’s first single “Jupiter,” “Year of Love” further builds on Hval’s graceful, delicate pop ecosystem she is creating for herself. Layered percussion meshes with Hval’s silky voice as she turns into an instrument of her own, bouncing her vocals around in its own rhythm. The song itself is based on Hval’s questions to herself after witnessing a proposal during one of her performances. “For me, this experience was very troubling,” says Hval. “It confronted me with the fact that I am also married. What does that detail from my private life say about me as an artist? ‘Year of Love’ asks, who am I as an artist? Do my private actions betray my work and voice?”
Classic Objects deviates from some of Hval’s more experimental work as a more pop-focused album, with each song having verses and choruses. The album was conceived when Hval wrote straightforward life stories, which eventually found its way into her songs. ”“This made me want to write simple stories. My problem was that I found that the music component in the writing process made the words stray from their path and even jump into the absurd,” says Hval. “I think it is just bound to happen when there is music involved. 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.”
Below, listen to “Year of Love” and keep scrolling for complete details of Classic Objects ahead of its March 11 release. You can preorder the album here.
Classic Objects Artwork:
Classic Objects Tracklist:
1. Year of Love
2. American Coffee
3. Classic Objects
4. Cemetery of Splendour
5. Year of Sky
6. Jupiter
7. Freedom
8. The Revolution Will Not Be Owned
