Albums to watch

Apocalypse, Girl

Jenny Hval

Apocalypse, Girl

Fifth studio album from Norwegian singer-songwriter and novelist who's first two releases were under the moniker Rockettothesky

ADM rating[?]

7.9

Label
Republic Of Music / Sacred Bones
UK Release date
08/06/2015
US Release date
09/06/2015
  1. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Forget your fears of this being allegedly experimental or difficult music…not just one of the best of 2015, Apocalypse, girl is one of the best records in a very long time
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  2. 9.0 |   The 405

    Deals in big ideas about life and society but does so in a way that that feels intimate and personal
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  3. 9.0 |   Loud And Quiet

    The ten songs here are flooded with samples and deep rumbles, moments of high drama and sad gloaming
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  4. 9.0 |   Gig Soup

    Hval has managed to create beautifully melodic and luxurious soundscapes, but contrasting them with vocals that range from straight up spoken word poetry to the lurid callings of sirens from distant shore
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  5. 9.0 |   God Is In The TV

    It sounds quite extraordinary
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  6. 9.0 |   Beardfood

    Elevating and liberating from start to finish
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  7. 8.5 |   The Quietus

    Sometimes her voice is piercing and painfully expressive, sometimes it thickens in her throat with a smile and is unbearably intimate and all-knowing. Always it is uncontrolled and uncontrollable. There is bravery and risk in it
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  8. 8.0 |   Under The Radar

    This album deserves the attention of a penetrative PhD dissertation rather than a limply trivial album review
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  9. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    Apocalypse, Girl is the thrilling sound of an artist expressing herself without the slightest hint of self-censorship. It’s one of the year’s most individual and original albums
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  10. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    You may squirm at times, but it is almost impossible to look away
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  11. 8.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    The lyrics hark to religious themes that permeate throughout, but there is always the feeling that Hval is referring to something a lot deeper than the references in her song titles
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  12. 8.0 |   Uncut

    She still stabs like a stiletto. Print edition only

  13. 8.0 |   The Observer

    At once plaintive, savagely ironic and disconcertingly funny
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  14. 8.0 |   The FT

    Vocals go from spoken monologues to dreamy singing, while the songs blend different tones — opacity and directness, confrontation and charm — in a way designed to unsettle the listener
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  15. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Makes for an incredibly arresting commentary on the state of the West
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  16. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    It’s provocative, but these are ideas rarely heard in pop, which makes it all the more compelling
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  17. 8.0 |   NOW

    The intimate collection of low-key art pop is gloriously weird and deeply human
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  18. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Hval is thinking big - and the result is uncomfortable, creepy and curiously moreish
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  19. 8.0 |   Spin

    Hval continues to cleverly connect, and explicitly comment on, matters of sex and politics
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  20. 8.0 |   The Music

    A complex, multifaceted album of profoundly strange but beautiful music
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  21. 7.9 |   Pitchfork

    Like all of her best work, it finds new ways to provoke, and new parts of your brain to light up
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  22. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Apocalypse, girl is an understated mesh of free jazz and artful improvisation, guiding us out of the nightmare capitalism has dreamed for us and into sexual liberation and individual rebirth
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  23. 7.5 |   Crack

    Confounding, yes, but thrillingly satisfying nonetheless
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  24. 7.0 |   Earbuddy

    Divorced of context, Apocalypse, girl is a great listen with all kinds of fun touches, and the expanded palette could serve Hval well in the future
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  25. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    A shift toward orchestral pop after the noisy rock of 2013's Innocence Is Kinky, but Hval loses none of her avant-garde inclinations in the process
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  26. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    You have to turn Girl up loud to hear the 'meshes of voice' that make this a more complex album than on first impression
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  27. 7.0 |   Exclaim

    The tracks on Apocalypse, girl flow into one another like smooth, glassy water
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  28. 7.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    Apocalypse, girl pulls back from the abrasive sounds of Innocence Is Kinky, but it is anything but streamlined
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  29. 7.0 |   NME

    Serene on the surface, but disturbed deep down
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  30. 6.0 |   The Irish Times

    Hval is clearly one to watch, and Apocalypse, girl is a smart one to listen to
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  31. 6.0 |   Mojo

    Sumptuous, but still challenging. Print edition only


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Jenny Hval: Apocalypse, Girl

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