Bjork / Biophilia

Bjork
Biophilia
(One Little Indian)
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Not many artists enjoy the kind of fevered anticipation that affords Bjork when the first whispers of a new release catch the wind. ‘Biophilia’ follows the technicolour dreamscapes of ‘Volta’, but is an altogether more ambitious project. I-pad apps, collaborations and live happenings littered the pre-release, and thankfully the music itself is interesting enough to hold up to the concept.

Opener ‘Moon’ sounds simultaneously like the future and the medieval past, while first single ‘Crystalline’ pops and cracks with high-concept beats and her layered, insistent vocal, until the whole thing overloads with a drum and bass explosion. Somehow it seems to sum up her career to date in five intense minutes.

From there things calm down to a march with the brass lead and beautiful ‘Cosmogony’, its drum rolls and falling, haunting harmonies elegantly leading into the awkward incantations of ‘Dark Matter’.

Elsewhere, ‘Virus’ clinks and catches the listener off guard with it’s gothic lullaby vibe, ‘Sacrifice’ sounds like ‘80s post punkers The Chameleons put through Bjork’s warped imagination, and closer ‘Solstice’ encapsulates the concept that seems to be central to this record, an exploration of the rudimentary science, magic and mystery of the old world, through the technology of the new.