It is hard to be different and original. Jenny Hval, a Norwegian artist, manages to achieve both effortlessly. A lot has to do with her voice, nasal and insistent, but with a surprising authority. Her music is mainly electronica, but she is not afraid to borrow from different styles, from reggae and calypso. There is quasi-religious quality to her work and her androgynous persona, and in that way she reminds me of Björk and Suzanne Vega, demur but powerful. I love the space in her music and her conversational delivery generates a quiet power. Her new, eighth album is called “Classic Objects” and it ponders woman’s place in society. In addition to her singing career, Hval is a published novelist.

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