An adeptly unified design scheme allows for the connection of any single release on the Norwegian experimental pop label Hubro to all of the others. An offhand snapshot extends across the cover of each release, ornamented by the title and artist name spelled out in ungainly, handwritten characters. One of these covers shows a rugged, plunging coastline in high-contrast black and white opening onto water that looks like it’s on fire. This is “Surrounds, Surrounds Me”, the new single by Jessica Sligter. The photograph sets an apt stage: Sligter’s songs are oceanic. They affect calm in the manner of a Caspar David Friedrich painting, but a radar would register traces of volatility—around some corner, something has caught fire. The Dutch artist lives in Oslo and has matured out of her earlier projects Jæ and Sacred Harp into a sophisticated collaborator with Jenny Hval, Susanna, and the reputable Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Sligter’s ability to write songs as boldly political as they are complex and emotional make her one of this year’s big discoveries for us. Her lyrics might as well be critical theory, and they lead the way to form feminist and capitalism-critical torch songs equally powerful and intimate. This sample should suffice as an argument.

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