Avant-pop artist Jenny Bakke shares new single 'Cry'
Avant-pop artist Jenny Bakke shares
new single 'Cry'
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Debut mixtape out May 12th via 9AM Records
“An honest and beautiful ode to friendship” – Nothing But Hope and Passion
“Wistful lilting vocals weave through a sonorous suite of Scandi pop, synths and subtle percussion. A superlative meditative pop track, that deals with the secretive and painful feeling of envy” – God Is In The TV
“The Norwegian artist’s vocals glide across the indie-pop foundations to create a sleek track bursting with honesty and elegance” – Lock Magazine
In 2022, Liverpool-based Norwegian musician Jenny Bakke made her musical debut under the moniker Helven, releasing her debut EP, volume 1, a collection of synth-laden lo-fi pop. Now she’s preparing to make her return with Morild, her most personal collection of songs yet, fittingly to be released under her own name. Today she has released a new single, the movingly beautiful 'Cry', via 9AM Records.
Morild is an ambitious debut, created in collaboration with a wide selection of talented producers resulting in an eclectic and varied collection. The mixtape’s 14 tracks were written and recorded between Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022, a period of great experimentation for the 22 year old artist. Tracks like ‘New Life’, an experimental mixture of noise and techno, and ‘In Somnia’, a dreamlike amalgamation of modular synths, form a bold statement of intent for an artist who is comfortable pushing her ever expanding horizons.
“It takes courage to explore. To be lost and found, be ‘pop’ one moment and experimental next. Letting songs be whatever they want to be,” says Bakke. “Working on this record gave me a great sense of freedom, that’s what makes it special to me.”
The songs on Morild were inspired by a plethora of sources, both musical and cultural. “I've been inspired by many different artists throughout my life, but whilst making this mixtape I was listening to a lot of Portishead, Lana del Rey and Oneohtrix point never,” says Bakke. “They have the power to stop the world and to make me feel like I’m the main character in my own movie. It's such a beautiful feeling and one which I hope translates into my own work,” she continues. “Elsewhere I drew inspiration from all sorts of stuff, ranging from beat poetry and Jean-Luc Godard movies to techno and rave culture.”
Loneliness is a recurring theme throughout the record, inspired by Bakke's long-distance relationship. The lyrics and melody to new single ‘Cry’ were taken directly from a phone recording she took one Valentine's Day. “We used everything from the recording, we wanted it as raw as possible. The sound of my body laying down against the bed, my breath, the empty room. Alone in the apartment, realising he wasn’t going to answer, had forgotten to send a message,” she explains.
Whilst the world Bakke creates across the record’s 14 tracks is shrouded in melancholy, like any good coming of age tale, there’s a healthy dose of youthful freedom and experimentalism that shines through. Morild is due to be released via Jansen Records subsidiary, 9AM Records, on May 12th, 2023.
