Jenny Hval: New Single 'The artist is absent' Out Now

Jenny Hval: New Single 'The artist is absent' Out Now


“Music’s most playful deconstructionist.”
– The Guardian

“[Jenny Hval’s] albums always feel like projects in the truest sense…very high concept, sort of theoretical but also existential…it never gets too far from the feeling.” — NPR’s All Songs Considered

“‘To be a rose’ is bright, atmospheric, and rich with personal meaning.”
- Pitchfork [“Best New Track”]

Norwegian musician, artist and novelist Jenny Hval releases “The artist is absent,” the second single/video from her new album, Iris Silver Mist, out May 2nd via 4AD, and announces a September North American Tour. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 4th at 10am local time.

+ Listen and watch 'The artist is absent' +
+ Pre-order Jenny's new album from 4AD on limited pearl 'Northern Light' and standard black vinyl +
+ Pre-order and pre-save on all platforms here +

 


Following the “highly specific and alluringly strange” (New York Times) lead single, “To be a rose,” “The artist is absent” encapsulates this feeling. Hval sings: “A stage without a show / A hazy silhouette around an empty space / A club without a club." Today’s single comes in two versions— an extended mix entitled “89 seconds rewrite” and the original album version. Accompanying “The artist is absent (89 second rewrite)” are visuals directed by director Jenny Merger Myhre and featuring Hval and longtime collaborator Orfee Schuijt.

“We’re dancing to the tiktok
Of the doomsday clock” – Jenny Hval



Named after the fragrance made by the French perfume house Serge Lutens, Hval’s Iris Silver Mist also moves like a scent – between flower and smoke, ghostly yet alive. Iris Silver Mist started with the absence of music; as live music disappeared during the pandemic Hval filled the void with perfume. It was only later she understood why: she was searching for another way to sense presence, to fill the emptiness music had left behind.

When Hval eventually returned to making music, each song was infused with smells. Many songs were created as a mixtape. This continuous flow of ideas was performed as long, shapeshifting pieces – Iris Silver Mist in their unrecorded form – as part of interdisciplinary shows I want to be a Machine. There, Hval and her band were surrounded by rice cookers, filling the songs with the misty smell of rice. Emphasizing the importance of the physical and live elements of music, these songs hold the experience that was lacking in Hval’s life for so long.



Jenny Hval Tour Dates(New dates in bold)


April
5th - Electronica en Abril, Madrid, Spain

May
21 - Islington Assembly Hall, London, UK*
23rd - Le Nuit Botanique, Brussels, Belgium *
27th - Silent Green (Betonhalle), Berlin, Germany *
30th - Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands

June
5th - Parkteatret, Olso, Norway*
29th - Days Off Festival, Paris, FR

September
5th - Lodge Room, Los Angeles, CA
6th - The Independent, San Francisco, CA
8th - Polaris, Portland, OR
10th - Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, BC
12th - Sleeping Village, Chicago, IL
15th - Longboat Hall, Toronto, ON
17th - Williamsburg Music Hall, Brooklyn, NY

* w/ Thea Grant