Karen Juhl - Mother Tongue (2023)

Mother Tongue is a debut album by Danish composer and songwriter Karen Juhl.

The album is a sonic hybrid of R'n'B, rap, experimental composition, and folklore. Juhl's lyrics connect childhood scenes with the psychiatric ward and internet rooms, creating a fragmented yet meditative reflection on fragility in a hyper-globalized world. Juhl's writing process for the album was influenced by a personal life crisis and a desire to let lyrics inform the sonics. ”I brought diary notes and prose poems with me into the studio and worked on vocals in a stream of consciousness kind of way.” Karen Juhl

Mother Tongue ranges in temperament and dynamics, featuring everything from minimalist passages to noisy synth sequences. It was made mostly on a computer, using YouTube samples, MIDI instruments, and vocals. The feeling of isolation sounds throughout the album, with the synth, drum tracks, samples, and vocals often placed far apart and reverberating differently. The result is a transformative sound that allows for contradictions coexisting as they do in real life. It was produced together with collaborator Johan Feierskov.

The artbook, created in collaboration with graphic designer Paw Poulsen, combines the album's lyrics with digital collages. The printed matter stitches together a new narrative on its own terms, transferring the album's dynamic range to the graphics. Juhl aims to create a space outside the digital realm, exploring the intertwining of personal and shared narratives.