Jenny Hval has shared another new track off her forthcoming seventh studio album, The Practice of Love. It’s called “High Alice” and seemingly finds the Norwegian experimentalist waxing poetic about self-gratification through Mother Nature.
“The beautiful queen/ the beautiful clock/ the ocean, the ocean, the ocean,” Hval sings, “where I wrote my first poem/ with my hand on my skin/ with my hand between my thighs.” Earlier she sings, “Let her sketch out her rabbit hole/ (her pleasure dome).”
As she explained in a press release:
“For a while, this song felt like my entire album. I had no idea what the rest of it would be, just a feeling like this song and the title, the two words High Alice, would get me there. My guiding stars at the time were Clarice Lispector’s ‘The Hour of the Star’ and Kylie Minogue’s ‘Confide In Me’. Maybe High Alice is the narrator of this album. I don’t know how I wrote it, it was automatic. But I found it really funny that I mentioned the sea three times. High Alice goes to all the places I have have taught myself to avoid, like the four Big Themes: Love, death, life, the ocean. The ocean. The ocean.”
Hold your breath and dive in below. The release of “High Alice” follows lead single, “Ashes to Ashes”.
Jenny Hval has a handful of European performances scheduled in support of The Practice of Love, including an appearance at Le Guess Who? Festival in the Netherlands come November. Find tickets to all her upcoming dates here.
The Practice of Love is due out on September 13th via Sacred Bones.
