Norwegian artist Jenny Hval has announced her latest album, Iris Silver Mist, set for release on May 2 via 4AD. The album, inspired by scents, was born out of Hval’s rediscovery of perfume during the solitude of the pandemic. Before recording, she performed some of the tracks live in a series titled I Want To Be A Machine, singing while surrounded by rice cookers.
Alongside the album announcement, Jenny Hval has shared the lead single, “To Be A Rose”, a song she describes as a “restless pop structure” where each chorus subtly shifts, reflecting changes in time, season, or perspective. The lyrics explore transformation, using the metaphor of a rose that morphs into a cigarette and then into smoke, drawing connections between generations. “My mother and I (two restless humans) are both present in the song,” Hval explains. “If about anything, To Be A Rose is about how one thing becomes another, how we all come from somewhere and someone, and how this is stranger and more powerful than we think.”
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The track arrives with a music video featuring tour footage from 2015 to 2024, edited by Jenny Berger Myhre. The visuals capture moments from Hval’s performances, often filmed on an old VHS-C camera. “When we did have a screen, the camera was directly outputting to the video projector, and I loved the moment of going from ‘live footage’ to rewinding into backstage moments, preparations, and previous shows, allowing time travel to happen in real time,” Myhre shared.
Iris Silver Mist features 13 tracks, including “Lay Down,” “I Want To Start At The Beginning,” and “Huffing My Arm.” The album is available for pre-order now here.
Watch the video for “To Be A Rose” below.
