“What’s this album about, Jenny?” asks a voice midway through this short but highly intriguing record from Norwegian pop experimentalist Jenny Hval. “It’s about vampires,” she replies, then hurriedly adds: “Well, it’s about more things than that.” Indeed it is. Menstruation, death and uncontained desire are also among the preoccupations of the album, Hval’s fourth under her own name. Interestingly, given the title and themes, Blood Bitch is less operatic than one might expect. There are references to waking up in blood, and some shrieky Giallo-esque sound effects on The Plague, but mostly Hval keeps things quiet, hushing the weirdness and disorientation to a whisper. “Don’t be afraid,” she tells the potentially shocked listener on Period Piece, “it’s only blood.”
