Jenny Hval shares new song ‘Buffy’
Norwegian indie-pop proprietor Jenny Hval checked all the boxes in 2022. She released an excellent new LP, Classic Objects, put out a few singles, and generally gave fans more than they ever could have asked for. Everything at this point is all gravy, if indeed we were to get anything at all.
As it turns out, we are getting something else: a brand-new single. Today, Hval has returned with ‘Buffy’, a radiant new synth-heavy track. Not terribly far flung from the spacey tones of Classic Objects, ‘Buffy’ nonetheless has its own distinct identity.
Kicking off with a solid minute of airy keyboard work, Hval lets that heady atmosphere carry over into the entire song. There are no drums and seemingly no additional instrumentation at all in the first two minutes of ‘Buffy’. For the final minute, we get a low-key beat that resembles Japanese koto music, pushing right into the eclectic sonic territory that Hval has mastered. And, in case you were wondering, yes, the lyrics were inspired by that Buffy.
“Somehow, I improvised some lyrics that referred to Buffy The Vampire Slayer, probably just because I have watched it so many times,” Hval shared in a statement. “I do like the idea that a TV series with many episodes, like Buffy, can be used as a creative and political rehearsal. An episodic form rehearsing overthrowing a dictatorship, a plutocracy, or theocracy?”
“‘Buffy’ is not a song about a slayer, a superhero, or feminist icon,” she adds. “If anything, it’s a song about hope, but in an understated and episodic way. Because to me, hope is more hopeful when it is presented in a subtle way.”
Check out the audio for ‘Buffy’ down below.
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