Jenny Hval Wins 2017 Nordic Music Prize

Norway’s Jenny Hval has won the 2017 Phonofile Nordic Music Prize for her latest LP Blood Bitch. The award (which was first given out in 2010, and is inspired by the Mercury Prize) goes to the Best Nordic Album of the Year. Hval’s Blood Bitch won the prize over Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s Arrival soundtrack, CTM’s Suite for a Young Girl (Denmark), Värähtelijä by Oranssi Pazuzu (Finland), Cherrie’s Sherihan (Sweden), and more. Find the full list of nominees here. In a statement, the judges said:

The winner is a fascinating artist that divides people—including this year’s international jury. Nevertheless, their album stood out in what was a fascinating year for the prize. All the judges were impressed by the adventurousness of the shortlisted albums, which shows once again how cutting-edge and diverse the contemporary Scandinavian music scene is. For those who loved it, the winning album was an incredibly strong piece of work—engrossing, atmospheric, challenging and thought-provoking. The artist who made it is endlessly inventive, and a brilliant example of how the Scandinavian underground can make statements in music which can powerfully connect and cut through.

Pitchfork named Blood Bitch its No. 23 album of 2016. Find the full list here. 

Watch Jenny Hval perform “Female Vampire,” as part of Pitchfork.tv’s GP4K series:

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