Jenny Hval has in recent years made a name for herself as an artist, musician and writer both in Norway and abroad. When her third record “Viscerawas” released in 2011, WIRE magazine described the record as: “a stunning achievement both conceptually and musically.”
Multidisciplinary and transgressive are words often employed to describe her art, but Jenny Hval’s polyphonic artistry is in fact seamlessly interwoven between musical, literary, visual and performative modes of expression. Despite her young age, she has already infused, carved and modulated an artistic voice that is altogether present, accessible and obscurely complex at the same time.
[vimeo 125621261 w=620&h=300]“Think big, girl, like a king, think kingsize.” Jenny Hval’s new record on Sacred Bones Records opens with a quote from the Danish poet Mette Moestrup, and continues towards the abyss.
“Apocalypse, girl” is a hallucinatory narrative that exists somewhere between fiction and reality, a post-op fever dream, a colourful time-lapse of death and rebirth, close-ups of impossible bodies — all told through the language of transgressive pop music.
httpv://https://youtu.be/5gCIZKgd8q4
CIRCUIT DES YEUX is the solo project of Chicago-based artist Haley Fohr. Named for the nerve in the eye that supplies power to the act of seeing, Circuit des Yeux launched in 2008 following a stint with the autodidactic duo Cromagnon.
A combination of folk chanteuse and noise maven, Fohr’s sound vacillates seamlessly between lo-fi and effortless-sounding songwriting sophistication. Says Pitchfork, “the emotional depths can be intoxicating, and even life-affirming”. Between 2009-11 Fohr released three solo records and a series of EP’s and 7-inches with De Stijl, gaining international momentum with literally hundreds of live appearances around the world.
httpv://https://youtu.be/SgffenvoYLI
Last year was a time of transformation for Circuit des Yeux’s Haley Fohr, as she toured to support the self-released Overdue. After a solo set at the Hopscotch Music Festival in September left her questioning both the crowd’s intentions and her own, Fohr wrote, “I feel that I must arm myself with sound, with musicians, and take back what I feel has been stolen from me with an army of friends and supporters.” So after years of mostly going alone, her new album on Thrill Jockey, In Plain Speech is Fohr’s invitation to change.
Looking outward at the world around her and the relationships that give her meaning, In Plain Speech is Fohr at her most composed and confident. It wanders while brimming with hope. Fohr will tour with the musicians who play on In Plain Speech throughout 2015.
Presented by Digital in Berlin. Check out our Facebook page to win tickets.
Kometenmelodien w/ Jenny Hval + Circuit Des Yeux
Monday, 22nd June 2015 | 20:00 CET
Berghain Kantine | Am Wriezener Bahnhof | 10243 Berlin/Friedrichshain
jennyhval.com | circuitdesyeux.net | berghain.de
