Norwegian musician, artist and novelist Jenny Hval has released ‘The artist is absent’, the second single from her upcoming new album, Iris Silver Mist, due out on 2 May via 4AD
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. New single ‘The artist is absent’ encapsulates this feeling: “A stage without a show / A hazy silhouette around an empty space / A club without a club.”
The release comes as 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
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. Emphasising 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.
Praise for Jenny Hval
“Hval’s music is blissfully but unobtrusively diverse.” – The New York Times
“An artist worthy of the utmost respect and adoration.” – Crack
“RIYL: Female genius in pop music, subtly epic songwriting.” – Pitchfork
“Music’s most playful deconstructionist.” – The Guardian
Iris Silver Mist is released digitally, on CD and standard black and limited pearl “Northern Light” vinyl on 2 May. Orders of the latter made via the 4AD Store will receive a flexi disc of bonus track, ‘I am an instrument’ (while stocks last).
Jenny Hval
Jenny Hval – Iris Silver Mist
4AD 0814
Tracklist
- Lay down
- To be a rose
- I want to start at the beginning
- All night long
- Heiner muller
- You died
- Spirit mist
- I don’t know what free is
- The artist is absent
- Huffing my arm
- The gift
- A ballad
- I want the end to sound like this
JENNY HVAL ONLINE
