Listening to Blood Bitch is like existing in a dream. If you don’t concentrate enough, you won’t hear the music. Pay attention, though, and you’ll be rewarded immensely. Layers of synths and electronica thinly veil the gothic horror and ethereal mysticism trapped in the lyrics.
Why is Blood Bitch titled thus? The theme of menstruation remains a constant throughout the album, a bold statement in the face of centuries of taboo. Indeed, menstruation is the centre of (arguably) the album’s most poignant moment. Hval describes the perspective of a teenage girl in ‘Untame Region’: “The next time I wake up, there’s blood on the bed/ Didn’t know it was time yet/ Or is it not mine?”
Jenny Hval succeeds in transforming menstruation, seen as a weakness in patriarchal societies, into a source of power. Begging the question as to whose blood is on the bed invites the listener to draw their own interpretations. Is the character of this song a dangerous murderer? Is she a teenage girl? Is she both?
Together, the ten songs on Blood Bitch read as a story: a journey from insecurity towards liberation. The first few songs of Blood Bitch explore vulnerability in confessional style. Jenny Hval expresses herself in stark, declarative statements. In ‘Ritual Awakening’, Jenny Hval admits that “It’s so loud/ And I get so afraid/ So I start speaking.” Despite the timid nature of these lines, it is immediately clear that the response to fear throughout this album is defiance.
Sometimes Jenny Hval’s lyrics feel like a list of the musician’s perceived failures. In another artist, this might be needlessly indulgent and pitying, but Hval pulls it off with a combination of humour and brutal honesty. These confessions are often relatable. Jenny Hval has a knack for finding and conveying the doubts that taunt each and every one of us.
Despite the serious subject matter, Blood Bitch is not miserable. Jovial moments are threaded throughout Blood Bitch. In ‘Period Piece’, for instance, Hval laments that she “Failed every period / Did baroque badly”. Her affinity for wordplay rescues this album from being received as excessively solemn.
In terms of musical style, this album will either be your sort of thing, or not your sort of thing. That is a mere matter of personal preference. What cannot be denied, however, is the prevailing significance of the universal themes of vulnerability and empowerment. Coupled with stark socio-political feminist commentary, Jenny Hval’s Blood Bitch contains multitudes. Personal liberation and feminist liberation flow throughout the album, making it relevant to all.
You can listen to Jenny Hval’s Blood Bitch here:
https://jennyhval.bandcamp.com/album/blood-bitch
Words by Lily Blake