Jenny Hval and Håvard Volden have been creating music as Lost Girls for over a decade now, putting out sporadic singles, but the duo have recently been in the studio together for the first time ever and it has resulted in an album. The record is called Menneskekollektivet, which means ‘the human collective’, and comes out on March 26 via Smalltown Supersound (a physical will be released in April). The announcement brings with it the opening title track, with Hval revealing:
“The song started out with some synth chords Håvard played. I felt they sounded like the beginning of the world, or a world, so I wanted to improvise words to them that somehow expressed a beginning of a world. They don’t make sense like a written lyric should, but they are trying to make sense of something, a moment, a slow transition. On this track, the voice, and the music too, slowly makes its way from alone to together.“
Those synth beds that introduce the song are the perfect setting for Hval to begin her heady sing-speaking, and in her classic style she proposes grandiose universal ideas and then hones in to specific moments. After a placid opening, Lost Girls inject some luminous beats and laser synths into “Menneskekollektivet”, provoking Hval to venture deeper into her subconscious mind to metaphysical actions; “moments where I’m stretching out of myself to get closer to you.” In her signature hypnotic manner, Hval keeps the images and ideas tumbling out over the bubbling production, and although “Menneskekollektivet” stretches for 12 minutes, you won’t feel it, as time seems to simply slip by as we follow Lost Girls down this luminous trail of ideas.
Listen to below or on other streaming services.
Lost Girls’ debut album Menneskekollektivet comes out on March 26 (physical on April 23) via Smalltown Supersound (pre-order/save).
You can find Jenny Hval on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, while Håvard Volden is on Twitter and Instagram.
