Producer, singer and composer BESS features on this blog for the first time through her new album, Virginia Supreme, led by stunning single, Art Figure.

By Graeme Smith

Feature photo by Michella Bredahl

Full name Bess Barkholt, BESS is a Copenhagen, Denmark-based musician who received her formal education at the Danish Rhythmic Music Conservatory and here in the UK at The Royal College of Art in London. Art permeates all that she does.

Her new Avant Garde album gives us thirteen tracks that explore the female perspective, all starting with newly-released single, Art Figure. We are immediately treated to BESS’s haunting, experimental sound which combines pop, soul and jazz to create something that straddles genre. Plenty of space is given to her unique vocals and the visceral poetry of her lyrics that eschew the stereotypes of gender.

The track comes complete with striking artwork from Annett Stenzel.

The theme of eschewing gender and sexuality is carried through to Drag Song and I’m A Cat. The former is a slow-burning and woozy number that gives us some lively percussion. The latter gives us some playful, bass-led jazz.

The inventiveness on display across Virginia Supreme means each new track comes with a fresh take. Gatekeeper is moody and brooding. You Wrote The Books is driving and disorientating. Maya is delicate and dreamy. Future sits at the heart of the EP with a bold electronic composition that’s brimming with optimism.

The album’s second half sees a contribution from Ditte Melgaard in the Madonna-esque Surface. We get hip-hop elements in North South East West and Yes He Was. The Room Was Like My Face is rich with poetry while We Gather has an uplifting, spiritual message.

Art Figure makes a return to close the album with its Vol. 2. It pushes the envelope further in a collection that’s already out there, taking us to an exquisitely unreal place over almost seven minutes.

Virginia Supreme is out now and you can give it a listen below.