On Jan. 13, Björk announced through a scanned handwritten note that she would release in March her ninth studio album, Vulnicura.
But wait … only five days later, the entire album leaked online. Oops. Unlike the Madonna drama, the Björk camp decided to calm the heck down and release it for legal purchase on Jan. 20, only a week after the initial announcement!
Anyways, enough about the leak; what you need to know is that the album is actually good, and I hope it brings more attention to her massive body of work. Most listeners our age were likely introduced to her music through two of her previous albums, Volta (2007) and Biophilia (2011). Those albums are considered the lowest points of her music career, though if you want to check them out, I don’t mean to discourage! Biophilia even comes with its own series of apps.
In Vulnicura, however, she went back to what she was known for: writing and producing songs with futuristic and visionary sound. It’s her best work since 2001’s Vespertine.
Vulnicura is not easy to digest; unlike anything you can pluck from Top 40, it’s still quite experimental and inaccessible. Even without listening, if you look at the tracklist, seven of nine songs are more than six minutes long. But this album is a return to her golden-age sound, which is what brought her international fame back in the ’90s.
It’s a companion to aforementioned Vespertine, an album about falling in love with her ex-partner. In the new album, she sings about the break-up. WARNING: If you cry easily, I heavily suggest not visiting Rock Genius to read and decipher her lyrics.
If you are looking for an easier way to get into Bjork’s discography, I suggest you start with her 1995 album Post. Despite being 20 years old, the album still sounds very fresh. Here’s “Army of Me” . It’s actually really fun to listen to; trust me!
At some point, you HAVE to listen to Homogenic (1997). People thought she pushed a lot of boundaries with Post … then Homogenic took it further. It’s stark, abrasive and … really passionate. It will leave you feeling some type of way. My personal favorite of the album is “Bachelorette.”
But if I had a choice, I’d make you to listen to “Pluto” because, well, even if that song came out in 2015, a lot of people would deem it “extreme.” Imagine how that sounded in 1997. And, you know, people actually really liked the album!
Björk’s influence can still be seen in new artists today. Do you listen to FKA twigs or Blue Hawaii? Bjork has a lot to do with their sound. She is the pioneer of an ethereal and futuristic style. Even her 1993 album Debut, which is a simple pop album that’s not quite as acclaimed as Post or Homogenic but still loved, was innovative at the time due to her use of musical influences from around the world.
It’s 2015, and Björk is still making music and pushing forward. For Vulnicura, she worked with Arca — an up-and-coming Venezuelan producer who worked on Kanye West’s Yeezus. If that doesn’t intrigue you, I don’t know what will, besides reiterating my point: Björk’s an iconic musician whom you’re missing out on if you don’t give her a chance.
