Innocence Is Kinky

Jenny Hval - Innocence Is Kinky
Critic Score
Based on 12 reviews
2013 Ratings: #17 / 1115
User Score
Based on 179 ratings
2013 Rank: #146
Liked by 8 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

94
Sputnikmusic

It may be difficult to listen to, and even harder to stomach, but there is great reward in focusing on what happens in this deceptively hushed landscape that Hval has built

90
Tiny Mix Tapes

On Innocence Is Kinky, Hval flaunts these contradictions of innocence, forcing us into the role of one of her fathers/lovers. With the sound of her voice, she both hands us the knife and brandishes it at us, daring us to keep listening, to listen even closer. 

90
PopMatters

Innocence is Kinky might be a more clear distillation of Hval’s vision, but that’s only because the gaze is fixed so intently from performer to perpetrator. 

90
No Ripcord

This mind-expanding record will inspire a more inexpressible connection: you will carve your own niche within its deep and absorbing textures, and you will find new things upon every listen.

90
The 405

Innocence Is Kinky may not be an easy listen, with its hardened emotions, harsh sounds and brilliantly erratic vocal style, but Jenny Hval has taken what was once a floundering live art performance and fashioned it into her most enduring recorded work yet.

85
Beats Per Minute

To call Innocence is Kinky a sort of coldhearted sexual odyssey, or some equally twisted companion to Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (Bill Harford could really have used a listen), hardly feels a stretch. 

78
Pitchfork

Not content to merely test the limitations of musical genre, of sound, of her own voice (and, by virtue, her body), Hval knowingly transgresses those limitations as she explores what’s just beyond her range. 

scoutcoker
82

fascinating in lyrical content and surprisingly diverse musically. restrained, but with moments that allowed themselves to be expansive while maintaining the album's quiet nature. hval's voice is bright and beautiful yet at times haunting

particular favs: Mephisto in the Water, I Called, I Got No Strings, Death of the Author, The Seer

81

Love the first half but it looses steam towards the end unfortunately.

cwmDJ
64

experimental album, some decent songs but most of it is tuneless and pointless

ridofme1993_
60

Lyrically and musically, it’s very interesting. Melodically, it’s tuneless and incoherent which very much gets in the way of enjoying it.

Favourites: Innocence Is Kinky, Memphisto In the Water, I Called, Amohibious Androgynous

scoutcoker
82

fascinating in lyrical content and surprisingly diverse musically. restrained, but with moments that allowed themselves to be expansive while maintaining the album's quiet nature. hval's voice is bright and beautiful yet at times haunting

particular favs: Mephisto in the Water, I Called, I Got No Strings, Death of the Author, The Seer

tha138
72

With her kinky innocence, Jenny Hval is looking for the nordic, urban blues in the strangest places, a difficult task but she won't give up easily.

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Added on: April 3, 2013