Some years ago, the name Johanna von Hertzen popped up on my radar. I can’t exactly remember how, but I believe she was organizing an event I had attended. I had been curious if she was related to the VON HERTZEN BROTHERS but never answered that question and promptly kind of forgot about it. Then, more recently, her name popped up again when she was performing as part of Musamimmit Vol. 2 at Hesari13 in Helsinki on November 21st, 2023. There, she put on a short but vivid performance, including a new single, “Ihana lutka,” which had come out on November 17th, 2023, that turned out to be a new track that I really enjoyed.
“Ihana lutka,” or, “lovely slut,” is a rather tongue-in-cheek song about an annoying audience member (we all know the kind of people she’s singing about, let’s not lie) who has a lot of opinions about how artists should do their jobs and feels entitled to share them, likely from the front row. This is all wrapped around a very catchy and energetic music, with a very fun pop-rock guitar riff. When seeing it live, it really came to life, as Johanna immediately proved herself to be a vibrant and passionate performer!
For Finnish listeners, Johanna comments in her press release: “Tämä biisi on pilke silmäkulmassa kirjoitettu, mutta valitettavasti myös täyttä totta. Toivon, että teksti kolahtaa sellaisiin ihmisiin, jotka tunnistaa siitä itsensä ja ymmärtää muuttaa käytöstään ja esiintyjät saisivat keskittyä työhönsä.” [loosely: this song was written humorously, but is unfortunately also completely true. I hope that the text resonates with those who see themselves in it and understand how to change their behavior so that performers can focus on their work]
