Hanne Hukkelberg

Hanne Hukkelberg, a Norwegian vocalist and composer tied to her homeland’s jazz, electronic, and experimental circles, produces personal yet peculiar work that evades simple labels. She merges folk, pop, and jazz elements while favoring atypical timbres drawn from commonplace items, and her striking, flexible voice has prompted comparisons with Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, and Björk.

Born in Kongsberg in 1979, she began singing and performing at age three, quickly realizing the musical possibilities of kitchen utensils, and has rarely paused since, taking up piano, guitar, and drums along with an array of unusual noisemakers. She attended the National Academy of Music in Oslo and graduated in 2003, while also appearing with metal, prog rock, and free jazz groups through her early twenties, including the high-school doom metal outfit Funeral.

In 2004 she teamed with producer Kåre Vestrheim, widely recognized for his work alongside jazz-metal fusionists Shining, together with players drawn from that ensemble, experimental jazz collective Jaga Jazzist, playful electronic duo Exploding Plastix, and eclectic producer Kaada. The result was her debut album Little Things, a gently whimsical and lightly electronic set. It first appeared domestically on Vestrheim’s Propeller imprint before being licensed, fittingly, to the genre-defying Leaf Label, which issued both Little Things and the four-song Cast Anchor EP internationally in 2005.

Hukkelberg relocated to Berlin for six months while shaping her next record, the somewhat darker and more emotionally charged Rykestraße 68. Many of the same musicians participated, with Vestrheim again serving as producer, and the album included a cover of the Pixies’ “Break My Body,” a fixture of her concerts. After its 2006 release the album received a Spellemannsprisen in the broad “open class” category. Nettwerk brought Rykestraße 68 to Europe in 2007 and North America in 2008, each edition supported by touring.

With Blood from a Stone in 2009 she moved away from the jazzy pop leanings of prior releases toward a guitar-centered indie rock approach. Issued in 2012, Featherbrain pursued a more experimental direction, as did the 2017 conceptual album Trust, which explored the dualities of contemporary digital life through singles such as “The Whip,” “IRL,” and “Embroidery.”