Jenny Hval
Apocalypse, girl


4.0
excellent

Review

by owl beanie EMERITUS
August 22nd, 2017 | 29 replies


Release Date: 2015 | Tracklist

Review Summary: getting paid, getting laid, getting married, getting acquainted

This one still hangs around – maybe it’s even permanently etched somewhere – in the back of my head. I can’t be quite certain of how it came to be a tenant, just as I’m not sure there exists a conceptual axis that grounds Hval’s postulations about both the world around her, and the world inside her. As far as inveterate reference points go, this one is an anomaly; though it’s made an indelible mark, I’m still on the outside looking in.

When I read plane’s Viscera review, all those years ago (I may not be here if it wasn’t for that review, now then I’m deeply indebted [thank you kind sir]) it made observable new avenues with which to approach music, in terms of “philosophical resonance” – as he put it – and what constitutes a ‘song’. At risk of applying the same, cogent points to a new context, I’ve been trying (perhaps fruitlessly) to appraise Apocalypse, girl from a different angle. That is: this record is unequivocally and specifically feminine in its evaluation of sex, of self-love, of consciousness and humanity. More specifically, there is no way this record can be evaluated from an androgynous perspective.

Maybe I’m misconstruing, and this angle has, in fact, been covered before. After all, this album is immersed in so many abstractions that it’s an abstraction in itself. Hval buries her ideas amidst the layers of consciousness that exist in her surreal and atmospheric soundscapes, until her voice rises above to deliver a scathing indictment, or an evocative statement upon which to base your own thesis. “It’s biology; it’s my own fault” subverts she, and the sardonic tone does not go amiss – it comes across as an eloquently articulated argument for embracing feminine identity and against post-feminist rhetoric.

If there’s one thing I adore especially about plane’s review, it’s how he analyses Hval’s considered application of language. At this point (and past it, into Blood Bitch territory) her manipulation of meaning is a standard, a fundamental characteristic of her creative output. It strikes me how the use of words like ‘cunt’ and ‘dick’, throughout the record, are once again so far removed from notions of vulgarity; at least, they’re posited in such a way that social obloquy cannot touch them. In the negative space between these words, one is provoked into considering their biological significance, as opposed to their societal significance.

Sexuality and biology are, of course, linked to the same kind of femininity that Hval has engendered on other albums and on other days. But Apocalypse, girl seems to scrutinize femininity through the lens of an out-of-body experience; the corporeal form sitting across itself, studying and consoling in equal measure; the metaphysical married with the physiological. When fantasies of dogs and horses are positioned contiguously with one’s idea of identity, Hval is able to examine herself in the same way that a listener would: detached, from an alien perspective, as though the inverse of what plane suggests she does on Viscera.

And so this relationship is mutually beneficial – I get beautiful music, and an opportunity to try and understand/empathise with a uniquely feminine approach to self-discovery, while Hval gets a chance to apply her selfhood to a range of different contexts in order to come to terms with it. Now excuse me, while I get myself in trouble for inadvertently singing “metal spikes embrace my spine, my face, my cunt“ around a loitering group of schoolchildren on my way to getting my phone fixed.



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user ratings (118)
3.5
great


Comments:Add a Comment 
verdant
Emeritus
August 22nd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

tl;dr worshiping the old gods who brought me here

verdant
Emeritus
August 22nd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

thank you < 3



and thank you for introducing me to this woman way back when!

butcherboy
August 22nd 2017


9464 Comments


album is spectacular..

verdant
Emeritus
August 22nd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

agreed

Atari
Staff Reviewer
August 22nd 2017


28009 Comments


lovely review man, need to give this one more time

Ryus
August 22nd 2017


37886 Comments


jenny hval is G O D

and terrific review!

verdant
Emeritus
August 22nd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

thanks so much lads

Conmaniac
August 22nd 2017


27704 Comments


amazing review jack, love the commentary and the plane shoutout within the review. one thing though, this almost reads like an academic analysis on femininity within this album instead of an actual review talking about the music. one could argue that describing the album's main concept (at least lyrically) is just as much of a selling point as describing the music however, I feel like you couldve meshed the two a bit more.

thats mostly just me thinking outloud tho and I do it myself as well. either way, this is fantastically written Jack

robin
August 22nd 2017


4596 Comments


lewis you old man

Winesburgohio
Staff Reviewer
August 22nd 2017


4180 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Hval's approach and subversion of "femininity" is part of what makes her so wonderful but also so idk, epochal? i think the critical lens yields some good shit, as witnessed here uwu

verdant
Emeritus
August 23rd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

helo ppl of spupnik thanks 4 reading



r u MOCKING ME ROBIN > : (

ArtBox
August 23rd 2017


315 Comments


Good pun you 4'er

Good review you 4'er

Good music?

Chortles
August 23rd 2017


21494 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

this review made me scream



weirdly this is the only jenny i haven't heard ; (

verdant
Emeritus
August 23rd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

thankyouu u u u uuu



it's also the only hval without a review, ergo......

Winesburgohio
Staff Reviewer
August 23rd 2017


4180 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

"It strikes me how the use of words like ‘c**t’ and ‘dick’, throughout the record, are once again so far removed from notions of vulgarity; at least, they’re posited in such a way that social obloquy cannot touch them. In the negative space between these words, one is provoked into considering their biological significance, as opposed to their societal significance."



god i love this, you capture what i like about Hval so perfectly. extREMEly great review; can't stop thinking about it actually

verdant
Emeritus
August 23rd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

i am overflowing with gratitude!!! i am sure you know how much that means to me especially from someone such as yourself B)

robin
August 23rd 2017


4596 Comments


of course im not mocking u !

verdant
Emeritus
August 23rd 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

ok ok ok was jus havin a laugh, i hope u know you're one of the old gods i'm referring to :~)))) < 3

dbizzles
August 24th 2017


15254 Comments


I love this album cover.
And the review.
And you, mysterious LandDiving.

verdant
Emeritus
August 24th 2017


2505 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

dbizznessssssss < 3



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