Jenny Hval tells the psychedelic tale of Alice in Wonderland on her new song “High Alice.” The track is the second single off the Norwegian avant-pop artist’s upcoming LP The Practice of Love, out September 13th via Sacred Bones Records.
The song opens with an intro of clashing, reverberating synths reminiscent of Radiohead’s “15 Step,” but as Hval sings the opening lines, she makes it all her own. “Alice lost/She took a long rest/In an unknown place,” she whispers. “She thought ‘where do all these creatures come from?’ And ‘why are they here?’”
“For a while, this song felt like my entire album,” Hval said in a statement. “I had no idea what the rest of it would be, just a feeling like this song and the title, the two words ‘High Alice,’ would get me there. My guiding stars at the time were Clarice Lispector’s The Hour of the Star and Kylie Minogue’s “Confide In Me.”
“Maybe High Alice is the narrator of this album,” Hval continued. “I don’t know how I wrote it, it was automatic. But I found it really funny that I mentioned the sea three times. High Alice goes to all the places I have taught myself to avoid, like the four Big Themes: Love, death, life, the ocean. The ocean. The ocean.”
The Practice of Love is available for pre-order. A “Sacred Bones Secret Society” limited edition version comes in white and black-streaked vinyl and is limited to just 150 copies. All vinyl copies come with a pack of tarot cards — one for each of the album’s eight tracks.