It’s impossible to limit Norwegian musician Hanne Hukkelberg to any particular musical world; as a teenager she sang for the metal band Funeral, before graduating from a music academy in Oslo and embarking on a career that has touched on jazz, electronic, and pop music. Along the way she has picked up a Norwegian Grammy and plenty of acclaim for her sophisticated, savvy approach that often includes found sounds alongside more traditional elements.
Birthmark finds Hukkelberg in her experimental pop mode, writing songs that touch on the impersonality of modern interactions (on the song “Don’t Dream” she plans to “fiddle while Twitter burns”), the lessons she would impart on her younger self, and a bleak, imagined future for her relationship, which sadly proved true.
