Rockettothesky
To sing you apple trees
TrustMe
Confusion reigned supreme during my multiple listens to Rockettothesky's CD "To sing you apple Trees". I honestly have a hard time making sense of a lot of what Jenny Hval throws at me. Maybe I just don't get "it": On the one hand, Ms. Hval's talent is evident in her ability to combine unique vocal styling with catchy melodies to create an air of fleeting, dreamlike fantasy. On the other hand, her failings are evident in her need to shake, almost jar the listener out of the dream state she's worked so hard to create. It seems as though she is hellbent on being her own worst enemy; I simply don't understand why. Nothing exemplifies my point better than the song "A cute lovesong, please". She uses her voice to excellent trancelike effect when she asks, "When you think of me, do you masturbate?"; then follows it up by confessing that "I want you to know that you make me want to menstruate." Huh? Is menstruation a sexual response to you, Ms. Hval? Or do you want to menstruate out of disgust for your protagonist's sexual desire for you? Or maybe, just maybe, you tried so hard to rhyme, you succeeded in ruining what could have been a perfectly good song. Perhaps I'm just being far too analytical. There are some decent songs on "To sing you apple trees" such as "Cigars", "They are bastards!" and the popular "Barrie for Billy Mackenzie" (even though I still don't know what the hell a "Barrie" is). But, the sad truth is, if I want to be entertained by a wacky Scandinavian, there's always Björk. Rockettothesky is simply going to have to do better than this.
- Heinrich Souza