Jenny Hval’s Launches a ‘Post-Apocalyptic Road Trip’ on New Song ‘Jupiter’
Norwegian avant-pop artist Jenny Hval embarks on a mind-bending journey on her new song, “Jupiter,” and in its accompanying video.
“Jupiter” is a dazzling cut filled with lithe drums and rich pop textures, while the lyrics find Hval chronicling what she describes as a “post-apocalyptic road trip” that starts at Prada Marfa — the famous art installation featuring a small Prada store dropped in the middle of the desert outside Valentine, Texas. “I could open my mouth,” Hval sings, “And pour out mirages/Like a song I am always gathering/Jupiter call her/Into the ether.”
In a statement, Hval said, “When I wrote the music for this song in 2015, it had no lyrics, and I did not understand where it came from. It was a strange creature that moved from one genre to the next like a slideshow and crashed into a chorus full of cymbals. Six years later ‘Jupiter’ has become a post-apocalyptic road trip. It begins by the art installation Prada Marfa in Texas but turns into a game of identification and absurd imagery. The song winds its way through a desert-scape where values, genres, representation, and relationships are breaking down. It tickles our death drive and throws us into space.”
Hval complements the song’s lyrical journey with a similarly surreal trip in the “Jupiter” music video, which was directed by Zia Anger. Hval said of the clip, “In Zia’s music video, that journey has become a psychedelic hot-air balloon ride. The video crew is filmed stepping into the balloon knowing it is dangerous. That’s how the precarious workforce, including artists and other freelancers, work: High risk, little security. We all just mean so little. The thinnest needle can puncture our lives.”
“Jupiter” marks Hval’s first single for her new label, 4AD. Her last solo album, The Practice of Love, was released in 2019, while back in March Hval and frequent collaborator Håvard Volden released a new record, Girls Against God, as Lost Girls.
Hval has also announced a North American tour that will kick off May 9 at Arts at the Armory in Boston and wrap May 25 at Lodge Room in Los Angeles. Tickets will go on sale this Friday, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. local time.
Jenny Hval Tour Dates
May 9 – Boston, MA @ Arts at the Armory
May 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
May 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
May 13 – Washington, D.C. @ Miracle Theatre
May 14 – Columbus, OH @ Skully’s
May 15 – Chicago, IL @ Constellation
May 16 – Chicago, IL @ Constellation
May 17 – Toronto, Ontario @ Lee’s Palace
May 20 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos
May 21 – Portland, OR @ Holocene
May 24 – Oakland, CA @ Starline Social Club
May 25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
