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Live Music Jenny Hval Milton Court Concert Hall, London

Weird and sometimes wonderful concepts from the performance artist

A FAR cry from her last horror-flick and menstruation-inspired 2016 album Blood Bitch, Norwegian artist Jenny Hval’s latest release The Practice Of Love is a poetic homage to all things amour through the prism of 1990s trance music.

 Jenny Hval
High concept: Jenny Hval

With this concept in mind, entering the intimate Milton Court to find Hval in a tent onstage is somewhat bemusing.

Another much larger tent sits across from her before its canvas is dropped to reveal a bank of sound and visual equipment where the rest of her band perform.

Hval whispers welcomes to the audience and some in the front row are invited onstage to speak with her in the tent and receive a gift. “Take care,” Hval solicits, as one almost trips over on his way out.

The eccentric Scandianvian finally emerges from her tent to treat the audience to a decidedly multi-media-heavy rendition of The Practice Of Love.

A camera projects the faces of various group members on a large screen at the back of the stage, although at one point a technical hitch prevents this. “Use your imagination,” Hval advises, though the effect is wonderfully pulled off in the spoken-word title track.

In between songs which are remarkably beautiful — particularly Ashes To Ashes, Thumbsucker, High Alice and Accident — the group seem to enjoy simply dicking about.

A bizarre sequence sees them using bananas as a telephone receiver, which are then shaken like maracas before the ensemble perform a strange line dance together.

In other surreal moments, a group member pours sand out of a long rubber glove onto a tray, while another takes a bite out of an apple held by Hval, who wears a glove that looks like a flower.

Conceptual it may be but it’s not always particularly tight and at times proceedings feel like watching a student art project.

That said, nobody will find fault for originality. Not everyone will get it but Hval’s charm and some truly inspired music pulls the ensemble through.

 

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