Publications
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Iveland, Kari
(2026).
Sounding the Voice: Identity, Lyrics, and Vocal Recognition in Popular Music.
Bloomsbury Academic.
ISBN 9798765157435.
doi:
https:/www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9798765157459.
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This open access book explores why lyrics and voices resonate with listeners in various temporal, performance and technological contexts. Sounding the Voicehighlights how humans develop voice recognition and listening competence through a lifelong relationship with the voice. The voice is considered to be a transmitter of verbal information and an embodied, expressive sound that conveys identity, intent and temperament. Within this analysis is a further exploration of the impact of AI-generated voices, from how they challenge people’s knowledge of voice to their ability to recognize voices and traditional notions of vocal identity. This is a vector for considering how new technologies shape vocal aesthetics and perceptions of vocal performance and lyrical meaning. Through interdisciplinary insights into individual artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift, Jacob Collier, Joni Mitchell, Sade, David Bowie and Jason Isbell, as well as particular songs such as the Beatles’ 'The Fool on the Hill,' Childish Gambino’s 'This Is America,' Lady Gaga’s '911,' and Jason Aldean’s 'Try That in a Small Town,' the book reveals how vocal timbre, sensory responses, performance dynamics and listening contexts shape our perception of lyrics and vocal performances. It demonstrates that lyrical and song meanings are not stable but dynamic, co-created by authors, performers and audiences and informed by factors such as technology, culture and time. Accessible yet analytical, this book offers a fresh perspective on the interplay between lyrics, voices and the evolving technologies shaping how we experience and understand songs. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under aCC BY-NC-ND 4.0licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded bythe Bloomsbury Open Collections Library Collective.
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Iveland, Kari
(2007).
Sangeren- en guide til artistlivet, Fagbok om sang og artistliv. Norsk Noteservice.
Norsk Noteservice.
ISBN 9788280891020.
183 p.
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Iveland, Kari; Eriksen, Torun & Askerøi, Eirik
(2023).
Symposium, "Dialogues on Songwriting", Forskningsgruppe for Låtskriving og Produksjon, UiA.
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Iveland, Kari & Grelland, Hans
(2019).
Albert Einstein og Rabindranath Tagore. Et møte mellom østlig og vestlig filosofi.
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Iveland, Kari & Røshol, Andreas Waaler
(2018).
Sunget tekst fra et utøverperspektiv: Ulike tilnærminger til låtskriving.
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Iveland, Kari
(2024).
Lyrics, Voices, and the Stories they tell.
Universitetet i Agder.
ISSN 9788284271798.
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Situated within the field of Popular Musicology, this thesis takes a discursive approach to the relationship between lyrics and representations of the voice. Drawing on personal experience with lyrics and voices as a singer, performing songwriter, and researcher, it takes on several discourses of academic thinking, such as musicology, literary studies, and voice and performance studies. Interdisciplinary lines are drawn between these related fields to explore their discursive interactions. The thesis advances an approach suggesting that people's lifelong relationship with voice contributes to the development of a "Voice Recognition, Use, and Listening Competence". This competence is argued to be intertwined with individuals' lifelong relationship with voice and performance traditions within popular music genres, enabling them to identify coded meanings in the voice. Furthermore, this thesis investigates whether our knowledge and experience with voice and its everyday function as a means of expression and communication is transferred to how we write, perform and understand lyrics. It thus aims to highlight how somatic and semantic meaning contribute to different understandings of lyrical meaning. To address these and related issues, the thesis introduces an analytical framework labelled "Four Approaches to Lyrics and Voices". This framework is designed to encompass experiences as a listener, reader, singer/performer and lyricist/songmaker, offering a broad perspective on how lyrical meaning is constructed and understood. These four approaches are applied to explore how the relationship between lyrics and the performativity and coded meanings of the voice contribute to our understandings of lyrical meaning. The thesis studies a selection of songs, lyrics, songmakers and performers, avoiding focus on specific genres or artists to provide a broader perspective. The examples also underscore the universal nature of coded meanings in the voice and the versatility of "The Four Approaches to Voices and Lyrics" as an analytical framework applicable to lyrics across various genres and artists. In this way, the thesis makes a case for how lyrical meaning emerges and lives on in its interactions with performers and listeners, implying that our understanding of lyrics is never fixed. Moreover, it addresses how experiences of external and internal listening and auto-listening inform experiences and understandings of iii lyrical meaning. Additionally, the thesis highlights the relationship between lived experiences, personal narratives and song narratives and how they are interwoven in the tapestry of our lives. The primary objective of this PhD project is to start a new conversation within Popular Musicology about lyrics, voices and the stories they tell.
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Published
Oct. 13, 2026 5:53 AM
- Last modified
Oct. 13, 2026 5:53 AM
