189-589: Vespertine is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk . It was first released on 18 August 2001 in Japan by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment . Björk aspired to create an album with minimal and intricate electronic music to evoke an intimate and domestic feeling, in contrast with the louder styles of her previous studio album Homogenic (1997). She enlisted producers such as Opiate , Console and
378-570: A Channel 4 documentary along with Sir David Attenborough called When Björk Met Attenborough , as part of their Mad4Music season of programmes. Björk and Attenborough discussed the human relationship with music, focusing around Biophilia , and also featuring scientist Oliver Sacks . In 2014, the apps were the first ever to be inducted into the Museum of Modern Art 's permanent collection. In June, Björk recorded original vocal samples for Death Grips , which they used on all 8 songs of Niggas on
567-591: A New York City loft, and began to work with harpist Zeena Parkins . Much of Vespertine was "composed, crafted and edited" in that loft, in what has been called the " Domestika sessions". Some tracks were recorded as an overdub "on top of a slave mixdown" of the Spanish sessions. "Undo" was written during a two-week session with Knak that January in Reykjavík . Björk recorded her vocals on top of Knak's minimalist rhythmic backbone, and months later she had added
756-573: A geisha whose makeup extends over her entire nude body". Red threads emerge from her nipples and circulate between her breasts and nose, finally enveloping her in a cocoon. Björk actually wore a very close-fitting body suit. Although not as controversial as the "Pagan Poetry" music video, it was still banned from MTV. In early August 2001, Björk confirmed the first set of dates for the Vespertine world tour which would take place at opera houses, theatres, and small venues, with favourable acoustics for
945-550: A soprano section and strings, "over the top of a warm, intimate melody". Michael Hubbard of musicOMH felt the track was reminiscent of Homogenic' s " Hunter ", but less focused on the beats. NME called it progressive folk , while Drowned in Sound wrote it was electro . Björk sings about "how two people can create a paradise just by uniting", as she intones: "I'm so close to tears/And so close to/Simply calling you up/And simply suggesting/We go to that hidden place". "Cocoon"
1134-482: A 2015 interview with The Pitchfork Review , Björk said that her work on Vespertine was not fully acknowledged by press, she further added, "Matmos came in the last two weeks and added percussion on top of the songs, but they didn't do any of the main parts, and they are credited everywhere as having done the whole album.". In 2002, Vespertine was nominated for the Shortlist Music Prize , though
1323-580: A Stain" is underpinned by a creeping choir line and nibbling clicks, and features an "unresolved, ominous tension" that is atypical of her writing style. Most of the song's lyrics speak directly to incidents in Sarah Kane 's 1998 dark-themed play Crave , so much so that it was titled "Crave" up to the last minute. "Sun in My Mouth" is an adaptation of E. E. Cummings ' poem "I will wade out/Till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers", with an emphasis on
1512-611: A booklet of M/M (Paris) artwork. Michael Hubbard of musicOMH commented, "the spine of the CD is entirely white, while the rest of the sleeve features innovative photography and artwork". Academic Nicola Dibben has likened Vespertine' s artwork and promotion to representations of the Greek myth of Leda and the Swan , emphazising the erotic overtones of both. Vespertine was released later than One Little Indian Records had intended. Originally,
1701-595: A box set meant to celebrate the end of the album cycle which 14 wooden flutes that imitate various bird calls and a USB stick featuring the digital albums, music videos and remixes, alongside an unreleased instrumental track, "Arpegggio". On 6 September 2019, two remixes of "Features Creatures" were released as digital singles, one by Fever Ray and the other by the Knife . Both remixes, as well as Björk's own remix of Fever Ray's 2017 song, "This Country", were collected on Country Creatures . On 27 September 2019, Björk made
1890-439: A breathy, "whispered, near-cracking falsetto " on the track. "It's Not Up to You" has been described as a "dizzying ballad" and a song that lifts the album upward. Michael Paoletta of Billboard described the track as "melancholy". Its lyrics are about "love for the unknown devices that culminate in 'perfect days'", and "pleas to find beauty in unlikely places". The "caressing lyrics" of "Undo" assure that: "It's not meant to be
2079-441: A career spanning four decades, drawing on electronica , pop , dance , trip hop , jazz , and avant-garde music. Regarded as the " Queen of Experimental Pop ," Björk is one of the most influential pioneers in electronic and experimental music . Born and raised in Reykjavík , Björk began her music career at the age of 11 and gained international recognition as the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Sugarcubes by
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#17327874917662268-612: A collaboration with Guðlaugur, which was named the Elgar Sisters . Some of the songs they recorded ended up as B-sides to Björk solo singles. Björk had her first acting role on The Juniper Tree (filmed in 1986, released in 1990), a tale of witchcraft based on the Brothers Grimm story, directed by Nietzchka Keene . Björk played the role of Margit, a girl whose mother has been killed for practising witchcraft. That summer, former band member Einar Örn and Eldon formed
2457-577: A cover of Joni Mitchell 's song "The Boho Dance" to the album A Tribute to Joni Mitchell (2007). Director and previous collaborator Michel Gondry asked Björk to star in his film The Science of Sleep , but she declined. The role was played by Charlotte Gainsbourg instead. Björk starred in Gunar Karlsson's 2007 animated film Anna and the Moods , along with Terry Jones and Damon Albarn . Björk's sixth full-length studio album, Volta ,
2646-813: A creation of magic through much more powerful forces. In fine style, Björk had set out to write an album about making sandwiches. She'd ended up with an album about making love". A stylistic antecedent was her poem "Techno Prayer", published in Details magazine in July 1996, which would later be used as part of the lyrics of " All Neon Like ". It featured thematic ideas such as cocooning and thread-weaving that she would later explore on Vespertine . The earliest sessions took place in Spain with programmer Jake Davies. Björk commissioned Valgeir Sigurðsson to relocate some of his studio equipment from Iceland to Denmark where Dancer in
2835-475: A drawing, Drawing Restraint 1–6 (1987–89) were documentations made using video and photography. Drawing Restraint 7 marks the influx of narrative and characterization, resulting in a three channel video and a series of drawings and photographs, for which Barney was awarded the Aperto Prize in the 1993 Venice Biennale . A series of ten vitrines containing drawings, Drawing Restraint 8 was included in
3024-457: A flute rendition of "The Anchor Song" from 1993's Debut before embarking on the brief Utopia tour , playing in several European music festivals during the summer. On 12 November 2018, Björk announced a new concert production centered around her Utopia album, entitled Cornucopia . Björk described the show as one "where the acoustic and digital will shake hands". Cornucopia opened in May 2019 at
3213-464: A frequent collaborator for Björk. Her first adult solo album, Debut , was released in June 1993 to positive reviews; it was named album of the year by NME and eventually went platinum in the United States. Debut was the leap Björk made from being in numerous bands during her teens and early twenties to her solo career. She named the album Debut to signify a start of something new. Debut had
3402-516: A full choir and string section. "Cocoon", also produced by Knak, was one of the last songs to be written for the album; its melody suddenly came to Björk and she contacted him. Knak took it as a chance to make a more minimal track, similar to his own releases. "Heirloom" was based on an existing instrumental track from electronic musician Console 's album Rocket in the Pocket (1998), titled "Crabcraft" (which itself samples Orchestral Manoeuvres in
3591-530: A job administering a catering service at Boise State University and where he attended elementary, middle, and high school. His parents divorced and his mother, an abstract painter, moved to New York City , where he would frequently visit. It was there where he was first introduced to the art scene. Barney was recruited by Yale University in 1985 to play football and planned to go into pre-med , but he also intended to study art. In 1989, he graduated from Yale. His earliest works, created at Yale, were staged at
3780-463: A last live radio show. Björk joined with Einar Melax (from the group Fan Houtens Kókó), Einar Örn Benediktsson (from Purrkur Pillnikk), Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson and Sigtryggur Baldursson (from Þeyr), and Birgir Mogensen (from Spilafífl) to perform in the concert. The group developed a gothic rock sound. During this experience, Björk began to develop her vocalisation – punctuated by howls and shrieks. The project performed as Gott kvöld during
3969-445: A later review for The New Rolling Stone Album Guide , Douglas Wolk described the album as "a banquet in the hall of Björk's personal erotics" and stated that "it's not the stuff of radio hits, but the music is spectacular". An enthusiastic review came from The Wire , which felt that: "In the end, Vespertine commits its magic by daring to go places more obvious and more human than one would have ever expected." Calling it "one of
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#17327874917664158-490: A lifelong collaboration and formed a group, Rokka Rokka Drum. She described her time as part of Medusa as "a gorgeous D.I.Y. organic university: extreme fertility!" Björk appeared as a featured artist on "Afi", a track from the Björgvin Gíslason 1983 record Örugglega . Due to the imminent cancelling of radio show Áfangar , two radio personalities, Ásmundur Jónsson and Guðni Rúnar, requested musicians to play on
4347-556: A little jungle ". The album's ethereal artwork mirrors its "delicacy and introverted romance". The cover art, shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in Los Angeles , California, is a black and white photograph of Björk lying down on the patterned ground next to a swimming pool, covering her eyes from the sun and wearing the Marjan Pejoski swan dress that she wore at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001, which caused
4536-418: A media frenzy and was widely criticised. The duo M/M (Paris), known for applying and integrating their work on photographs (so called dessin dans l'image , or "drawings in the picture"), illustrated the cover, featuring a swan and the album's title with feathers. Björk thought swans embodied Vespertine ' s music, describing them as "a white, sort of winter bird" and "very romantic". Vespertine came with
4725-457: A mix of songs Björk had been writing since she was a teenager, as well as more recent lyrical collaborations with Hooper. The dance -oriented album varied in instrumentation. One single from the album, " Venus as a Boy ", featured a Bollywood -influenced string arrangement. Björk covered the jazz standard " Like Someone in Love " to the accompaniment of a harp, and the final track, "The Anchor Song",
4914-412: A music box company requesting transparent acrylic boxes because she wanted the sound to be "as hard as possible, like it was frozen". Björk decided to use sounds that would not be compromised when downloaded from sites such as Napster , such as "microbeat[s]", whispered vocals, the harp, music box, celeste , clavichord , and strings which "ended up being more panoramic textures in the background." For
5103-418: A musical genre. Although she often calls herself a pop artist, she is considered a "restlessly experimental creative force". According to The New Yorker ' s Taylor Ho Bynum , "no contemporary artist so gracefully bridges the divide [between music experimentalist and pop celebrity] as Björk". Her album Debut , which incorporated electronic, house , jazz, and trip hop, has been credited as one of
5292-732: A new two-hour film, Redoubt , in 2017, which premiered in March 2019. It is set in the Sawtooth Range of Idaho, United States, and uses multiple layers of myths, including the myth of Diana and Actaeon , as well as references to the controversial reintroduction of wolves into the Sawtooth Mountains and metallurgy , to discuss "humanity's place in the natural world". The Yale University Art Gallery debuted Redoubt on March 1, 2019, alongside an exhibition of large bronze and brass sculptures and electroplated engravings inspired by
5481-599: A novel "tangible-interface" synthesizer from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona , which on Volta is played by Damian Taylor. The first single from the album, " Earth Intruders ", was released digitally on 9 April 2007 and became her second-ever Billboard Hot 100 entry in the United States. Volta debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 albums chart, becoming her first top 10 album in
5670-571: A one-off show at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival . Her music was featured in the 2008 documentary Horizons: The Art of Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir directed by Frank Cantor. Announced via an eBay auction , a new Björk track was revealed under the title " Náttúra ". Björk commented the song was intended "to encourage active support for a more environmental approach to Iceland's natural resources." The song
5859-412: A re-release of Debut ), collaborated on two songs for Tricky's Nearly God project, appeared on the track "Lilith" for the album Not for Threes by Plaid , and co-wrote the song " Bedtime Story " for Madonna 's 1994 album Bedtime Stories . Björk also had an uncredited role as a runway model in the 1994 film Prêt-à-Porter . Post was Björk's second solo studio album. Released in June 1995,
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6048-596: A record deal. The Eye was released in 1984, followed by a two-month tour in Europe, which also included a performance at Roskilde Festival in Denmark. This made Kukl the first Icelandic band to play at the festival. During this period Björk published a hand-coloured book of poems. Um Úrnat frá Björk was distributed in 1984. Kukl's second album, Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought) , came out in 1986. The band split up due to personal conflict, with Björk keeping
6237-508: A school recital in which Björk sang Tina Charles 's 1976 hit " I Love to Love ", her teachers sent a recording of her singing the song to the RÚV radio station , which at that time was Iceland's only radio station. The recording was broadcast nationally and, after hearing it, a representative of the Fálkinn record label offered Björk a recording contract. Her debut, Björk , was recorded when she
6426-472: A seemingly naked Björk (actually wearing a close fitting bodysuit), this time with her nipples secreting a red thread that eventually enveloped her in a cocoon. The video was directed by Japanese artist Eiko Ishioka and was not aired by MTV. She was invited to record " Gollum's Song " for the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers but declined the invitation, as she was then pregnant;
6615-576: A skateboard as a drawing tool. A block of graphite is mounted beneath the skateboard deck on the front end of the board. A skater performs a nose manual (a wheelie on the nose of the board, leaning in the direction of movement) across a smooth surface, tipping the nose of the board forward and leaving behind a drawn graphite line. The piece was part of a benefit art show and auction titled "Good Wood", raising awareness and funds for Power House Productions' Ride It Sculpture Park in Detroit, Michigan. The riding
6804-432: A solo career. She began working with producer Nellee Hooper (who had produced Massive Attack , among others). Their partnership produced Björk's first international solo hit, " Human Behaviour ", a dance track based on a guitar rhythm sampled from Antônio Carlos Jobim . In most countries, the song was not widely played on radio, but its music video gained strong airtime on MTV. It was directed by Michel Gondry , who became
6993-485: A special issue with texts, photographs, and different CDs issued randomly, each with a different song from the album. The Times issued a Björk special, featuring videos, music, photographs, and a competition to see Björk perform. She also appeared on several TV shows, including: The Rosie O'Donnell Show , The Tonight Show with Jay Leno , Space Ghost Coast to Coast , The David Letterman Show and, Charlie Rose , among others. On 6 August 2001, " Hidden Place "
7182-457: A strife/It's not meant to be a struggle uphill". Biographer Mark Pytlik wrote that "Undo" is "a reassuring reminder that anything can happen once you let it. If you are in pain, undo it, Björk suggests, no hint of disingenuousness in her voice, over climbing strings and a rising choir". " Pagan Poetry " is a "harp-splashed" song that concerns unrequited love . The track builds slowly, "with Björk wailing over swelling keyboard crescendos ", until, at
7371-498: A studio in Long Island City, Queens. Matthew Barney is represented by Gladstone Gallery. The Drawing Restraint series began in 1987 as a series of studio experiments, drawing upon an athletic model of development in which growth occurs only through restraint: the muscle encounters resistance, becomes engorged and is broken down, and in healing becomes stronger. In literally restraining the body while attempting to make
7560-443: A supposed full version of the album leaked online . In an effort to salvage potential losses in sales due to the leak and to allow fans to hear the album in superior quality, it was made available worldwide on 20 January 2015 on iTunes. Vulnicura is a portrayal of her breakup with former partner, Matthew Barney , with lyrics that are emotionally raw in comparison to the abstract concerns of her previous album. Its surprise release
7749-532: A surprise appearance during Mutant;Faith , Arca's performance-art piece at the Shed, to debut "Afterwards", a new collaboration which Björk performed in a combination of Spanish and gibberish. The song is included on Arca's fourth studio album KiCk i , which was released on June 26, 2020. Björk is currently set to embark on her eleventh concert tour, called Björk Orkestral , in which she will perform orchestral arrangements of songs from her career so far. As part of
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7938-802: A tribute to McQueen, with whom Björk collaborated on multiple occasions. Björk appeared on Átta Raddir , one of Jónas Sen's TV shows. The episode aired on 27 February 2011. The shows are produced by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. In the show Björk performed eight songs, including "Sun in My Mouth", which had not previously been performed live. Biophilia was released in 2011. The album project combined music with technological innovation and themes of science and nature, including an " app album", educational collaborations with children and specialised live performance, debuting in Manchester , United Kingdom at
8127-475: A week later. On 7 December 2015, Vulnicura was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album . On 15 July 2016, a standard "commercial" edition of Vulnicura Live was released, featuring the same performances but newly mixed and with different artwork. A luxury version of Vulnicura Live was released on 23 September. The performance of "Come to Me" from the album was also included in
8316-407: Is idiosyncratically collaborative, having worked with various producers, photographers, fashion designers and music video directors. She however believes that her male collaborators have received more credit than her, which Björk attributes to her being a female artist. Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in
8505-421: Is " Cocoon ", which is sexually explicit. As the process of filming demanded that she be extroverted, the new music she was creating became hushed and tranquil as a way to escape. The eventual title change of the record reveals its changing nature. Writer and critic Mark Pytlik notes that, "where [ Domestika ] signified a focus of extracting magic from the platitudes of everyday life, [ Vespertine ] [...] suggested
8694-587: Is "based around an exploratory bassline and beats that sound like fingertips on skin". Discussing the glitch nature of the track, Björk said, "when you take technology and use the areas where it breaks, where it's faulty, you're entering a mystery zone where you can't control it". Lyrically revolving around making love, the song alternates between metaphors like "Who would have known/That a boy like him/Would have entered me lightly/Restoring my blisses", and explicit lines such as "He slides inside/Half awake, half asleep" and "Gorgeousness/He's still inside me". Björk sings
8883-462: Is Full of Love" was also the first DVD single to ever be released in the US, which paved the way for other artists to include DVD video and other multimedia features with their singles. Björk began to write more personally, saying "I realised that I'd come to the end of the extrovert thing. I had to go home and search for myself again." In 1999, Björk was asked to write and produce the musical score for
9072-463: Is about a woman preparing herself for marriage and for her lover, as she sews a wedding dress onto her skin. As she had asked him to make a video about her love life, Knight gave Björk a camcorder and asked her to shoot her own private scenes. Shots of skin being pierced were also recorded with this camera; the people being pierced were five women who "were into subculture and piercings" and Björk herself, who only pierced her ear. This first two-thirds of
9261-562: Is available to us but hardly necessary to our pleasure: meaning, that is, is no longer a necessary component to art production or reception. Left to its own devices-and it is all devices, Cremaster places us in a framework of mutually assured consumption, consuming us as we consume it." The philosopher Arthur C. Danto , well known for his work on aesthetics, has praised Barney's work, noting the importance of Barney's use of sign systems such as Masonic symbology. Others have asserted Barney's works are contemporary expressions of surrealism . In
9450-406: Is decorated with inverted synthtones and analog keyboards". The song's lyrics tell a "fuzzy story" about a recurring dream , while "[likening] the art of singing to swallowing and exhaling 'glowing lights'" as Björk sings: "During the night/They do a trapeze walk/Until they're in the sky/Right above my bed". Film director Harmony Korine wrote "Harm of Will"'s lyrics. The Slate album review noted
9639-460: Is heard. These are samples of footsteps in the snow—the work of Matmos—re-appropriated as the song's "subtly shifting beat". "Aurora" has been described as "something that appeals to a child-like imagination", and having a "magical and airy quality". In the lyrics, she addresses a Nature goddess , and sings about "literally dissolving with pleasure" as she "prays to become one with… the northern lights ". One of Björk's broodiest compositions, "An Echo,
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#17327874917669828-406: Is much as it always is: skittering rhythms, warm keyboard tones, discreet "laptronic" pulses, plinking harps and swooshing strings, a general meshing of organic and synthetic textures. But her unique sonic palette is harnessed here in the service of hushed awe: womblike intimacy and occasional ecstasy." — Wondering Sound describing the sound of Vespertine . Björk has stated that she wanted
10017-576: Is one of the best-selling alternative artists of all time. Several of her albums have reached the top 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Thirty-one of her singles have reached the top 40 on pop charts around the world, with 22 top 40 hits in the UK, including the top-10 singles " It's Oh So Quiet ", " Army of Me ", and " Hyperballad " and the top-20 singles " Play Dead ", " Big Time Sensuality ", and " Violently Happy ". Her accolades and awards include
10206-629: Is the closest any pop-vocal album has come to the luxuriant Zen of the new minimalist techno ". Björk's performance on Vespertine has been described as that of an " art-rock torch singer". Stylistically, Vespertine incorporates elements of both art and dance music . For example, the instrumentation of choir, strings, and harp is suggestive of Romantic art music , while the "synthesised keyboard sonorities, filtering effects and complex percussive sounds" are elements characteristic of dance-based pop . Academic Nicola Dibben wrote that its "classical and dance-based elements" combine "the spiritual and
10395-447: Is the same version on display at MoMA earlier that year. On 2 October 2015, Vulnicura Strings was announced. The album serves as a purely acoustic companion to Vulnicura , and features additional string arrangements plus the viola organista , a unique string instrument played on a keyboard designed by Leonardo da Vinci . It was released on 6 November 2015 on CD and digital and 4 December 2015 on vinyl. A week later, Vulnicura Live
10584-420: Is the way that it marries its musical ambitions to its thematic emotions… And what makes it great… is the purity and intimacy of its feelings." Fricke and musicOMH 's Michael Hubbard have both noted that the singer had shown a more mature side of her. The A.V. Club ' s Keith Phipps found it to be: "an album both timeless and of the moment, an avant-garde electronic-pop exploration of classic themes". In
10773-617: The Antony and the Johnsons album Swanlights . The song is titled "Flétta". On 20 September 2010, Björk performed her version of " Gloomy Sunday " at designer Alexander McQueen 's memorial in St. Paul's cathedral in London. On 7 December 2010, a previously unreleased song, called "Trance", was released by Björk as the backing track of a short film made by Nick Knight, titled "To Lee, with Love", as
10962-656: The Barbara Gladstone Gallery was hailed by The New York Times as "an extraordinary first show". That same year, at the age of twenty-four, he had a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen , Rotterdam, organized a solo exhibition of his work that toured Europe throughout 1995 and 1996. Barney was subsequently included in many international exhibitions, such as documenta 9 in Kassel (1992);
11151-517: The Biophilia instruments (Tesla coil, MIDI controlled organ, the newly created Gameleste, and gravity harp) were on display in the lobby of the museum and played automatically throughout the day, the MoMA commissioned video installation, "Black Lake", directed by Andrew Thomas Huang , which consisted of 2 complementary edits of the "Black Lake" video screened in a small room with 49 speakers hidden in
11340-547: The Manchester International Festival in England. REN took place on May 18, 2008, in Los Angeles . His October 2, 2010 performance, KHU , the second part in his seven-part performance series in collaboration with Jonathan Bepler inspired by Ancient Evenings , took place in Detroit. In June 2009, a collaboration between Barney and Elizabeth Peyton , titled Blood of Two , was performed for
11529-404: The Manchester International Festival on 30 June. This was the first part of the Biophilia tour , that toured the world for two years. In June 2011, the first single from Biophilia , " Crystalline ", was released. The song was composed using one of the several instruments custom built for the project, the "gameleste", a celesta modified with elements of gamelan . A central part of Biophilia
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#173278749176611718-697: The National Order of Merit at the Ministry of National Education in Paris. Another press conference was held in Barcelona on 3 November 2001 while touring in Spain. A 16 December 2001 performance at the Royal Opera House in London was released as the DVD Live at Royal Opera House in 2002. A DVD release featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the tour, titled Minuscule , was released at
11907-652: The Order of the Falcon , five BRIT Awards , and 16 Grammy nominations. In 2015, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world . Rolling Stone named her the 64th-greatest singer and the 81st- greatest songwriter of all time in 2023. Björk starred in the 2000 Lars von Trier film Dancer in the Dark , for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival , and
12096-833: The Vespertine world tour with Parkins, Matmos, and a choir of Inuit women, where they performed at theatres and small venues in favor of acoustics. The album peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard 200 selling 75,000 copies in its first week and at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart . It was certified gold in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. Noted for its erotic, intimate mood and sonic experimentation, Vespertine received universal acclaim from music critics , with some considering it Björk's best album to date. The album appeared on several publications' lists of
12285-451: The experimental nature of the record. The Orlando Weekly wrote that with the album, Björk "[took] her modernist art-pop further into the abstract". According to Joseph Hale of Tiny Mix Tapes , described Vespertine' s music as a combination of "psychedelic techno, chamber music, and chorale together into modal constructions that swelled and receded like emotions (or psylocibin )". David Fricke of Rolling Stone wrote " Vespertine
12474-655: The 18-month Volta tour , having performed at many festivals and returning to Latin America after nine years, playing in Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , Curitiba , Guadalajara , Bogotá , Lima , Santiago de Chile , and Buenos Aires , as part of different events. She also returned to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in 12 years in January 2008, touring the nations with the Big Day Out Festival. She played
12663-627: The 1993 and 1995 Biennial exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art , New York; and Aperto ’93 at the 48th Venice Biennale , for which he was awarded the Europa 2000 Prize. For the season 2000/2001 in the Vienna State Opera, Barney designed a large scale picture (176 sqm) as part of the exhibition series "Safety Curtain", conceived by museum in progress . "Matthew Barney: The Cremaster Cycle", an exhibition of artwork from
12852-468: The 1995 Hector Zazou collaborative album Chansons des mers froides , singing the traditional Icelandic song " Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu ". Björk left London for Spain, where she recorded the album Homogenic , released in 1997. Björk worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B , as well as Eumir Deodato ; numerous remixes followed. Homogenic is regarded as one of Björk's most experimental and extroverted works, with enormous beats that reflect
13041-539: The 2003 Venice Biennale and prefigured the narrative development for Drawing Restraint 9 (2005). A major project consisting of a feature-length film and soundtrack composed by Björk, large-scale sculptures, photographs and drawings, Drawing Restraint 9 was built upon themes such as the Shinto religion, the tea ceremony, the history of whaling , and the supplantation of blubber with refined petroleum for oil. A full-scale survey of Barney's work through Drawing Restraint 9
13230-415: The 500 greatest albums of all time . During this period, the press exalted Björk's eccentricity by creating a " pixie " persona around her, a descriptor she later confronted with her following albums. Although Björk continued to receive more mainstream attention for her videos than her singles, Post included several UK pop hits and was eventually certified platinum in the US. Björk also contributed to
13419-724: The April/May cover of Vogue Scandinavia , her first ever Vogue cover, photographed by Viðar Logi wearing Maison Margiela . In October, a newly discovered large butterfly species was named Pterourus bjorkae in honor of Björk. Over her three-decade solo career, Björk has developed an eclectic and avant-garde musical style that incorporates aspects of electronic , dance , alternative dance , trip hop , experimental , glitch , jazz , alternative rock , instrumental , and contemporary classical music . Her music has since been subject to critical analysis and scrutiny, as she consistently defies categorisation in
13608-879: The Bitch's Ass" in Icelandic ), and released the EP Bitið fast í vitið ("Bite Hard Into the Mind" in Icelandic), in August 1982. Their album Miranda was released in December 1983. The group was featured in the documentary Rokk í Reykjavík , with Björk being featured on the cover of the VHS release. Around this time, Björk met guitarist Þór Eldon and surrealist group Medusa, which also included poet Sjón , with whom she started
13797-541: The Björk Vespertine Syndicate (BVS), a group of 30-plus websites that had exclusive access to non-album tracks, music videos, and concert/rehearsal footage. To promote the album, Björk appeared in various magazines in mid-2001, including: The Fader , Q , Pulse , URB , USA Today , InStyle , Vibe , Us , Nylon , Index , CMJ New Music Monthly and, Spin . Magazines Dazed & Confused and Les Inrockuptibles featured
13986-583: The Brodsky Quartet recorded "Prayer of the Heart", a composition written for her by composer John Tavener in 2001, and it was played then for a slide show presentation in 2003 for the American photographer, Nan Goldin . In 2003, Björk released a box set, Live Box , consisting of four CDs containing live recordings of her previous albums and a DVD featuring a video of one track from each CD. Each of
14175-453: The Cinema room of the MoMA exhibit), "Stonemilker" (a 360-degree VR video) "Family", and "Mouth Mantra" were also produced for the album, as well as a three part remix series available digitally and on limited edition vinyls. No traditional singles were released for Vulnicura . In December, the "Stonemilker VR App" was released for iOS devices, featuring an exclusive strings mix of the song. It
14364-464: The Dark was being filmed. While living in Copenhagen , she also contacted the electronic musician Thomas Knak (also known as Opiate), after having enjoyed his 1999 album Objects for an Ideal Home . In Iceland, programmers Jake Davies and Marius de Vries joined Björk for a writing session, laying down more tracks, in addition to nine already mixed. Then, she "set up camp [...] during summer" in
14553-494: The Dark 's "Sacred Heart"). Björk contacted Console in early 2000 and they met in London ; she then added her vocals on top. During this period, Björk also worked with Bogdan Raczynski on the song " Who Is It ", but it did not make the final cut and was subsequently re-recorded for the album Medúlla . Björk said that she worked on Vespertine for three years. As she wanted to write her own songs on music boxes , Björk contacted
14742-789: The French chart at number 49 and the UK chart at number 38. " Cocoon " performed more poorly, charting at number 61 in France and number 35 in the United Kingdom. Upon release, Vespertine received universal acclaim from music critics . At Metacritic , which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, based on 28 reviews. Various writers including David Fricke and Simon Reynolds named Vespertine Björk's best album to date. The album received some praise for its themes of intimacy and introversion, with Anthony Carew from About.com writing: "What makes Vespertine even more intriguing
14931-625: The Icelandic Music Awards. Notes Credits adapted from the liner notes of Vespertine . Musicians Technical Artwork Bj%C3%B6rk Björk Guðmundsdóttir OTF ( / b j ɜːr k / BYURK , Icelandic: [pjœr̥k ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtouhtɪr̥] ; born 21 November 1965) is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three- octave vocal range , and sometimes eccentric public persona, she has developed an eclectic musical style over
15120-647: The Line ", was filmed in collaboration with the Icelandic artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir in late 2004. This was initially a sequence from an art installation movie of the artists but was released exclusively on the Medúlla Videos DVD as an official promo for the track. In 2005, Björk collaborated with partner Matthew Barney on the experimental art film Drawing Restraint 9 , a dialogueless exploration of Japanese culture . Björk and Barney both appear in
15309-516: The Moon , the first part of their double LP, The Powers That B . In late 2014, a concert film, Björk: Biophilia Live , was released worldwide, including in more than 400 cinemas. Björk worked with producers Arca and the Haxan Cloak on her ninth studio album, titled Vulnicura . On 18 January 2015, just days after being publicly announced, and two months ahead of its scheduled release,
15498-686: The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, in 2015–16. Barney's work has provoked strong critical reaction, both positive and negative. Barney's work has been compared to performance artists Chris Burden and Vito Acconci , and some critics have argued that Barney's art is simultaneously a critique and a celebration of commercialism and blockbuster filmmaking. Commenting on the Cremaster series' enigmatic nature, Alexandra Keller and Frazer Ward write: "Rather than reading Cremaster, we are encouraged to consume it as high-end eye candy, whose symbolic system
15687-625: The Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles . "River of Fundament" was considered the largest filmic project since the Cremaster Cycle and first major museum solo exhibition in Los Angeles. In 2019, the Yale University Art Gallery exhibited "Matthew Barney: Redoubt," the first solo museum exhibition in the U.S. since the presentation of "River of Fundament" at
15876-750: The Present Must Be Transformed: Matthew Barney and Joseph Beuys " at Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin (2006). In 2013, the Morgan Library & Museum mounted “Subliming Vessel: The Drawings of Matthew Barney”, the first museum retrospective devoted to the artist's drawings, later traveling to the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. In 2014, Barney exhibited "River of Fundament" at Haus der Kunst, Munich. The exhibition later traveled to
16065-431: The US, netting week-one sales of 43,000. The album also reached number three on the French albums chart with sales of 20,600 albums sold in its first week, and number seven in the UK Albums Chart with 20,456 units sold. The second single from the album, " Innocence ", was digitally released on 23 July 2007, with an accompanying music video chosen from a contest conducted through her official website. " Declare Independence "
16254-449: The United Kingdom, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Australia. The album has been certified Gold in Canada, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Lead single " Hidden Place " reached the top spot of the singles charts in Spain, also charting in the top 40 in the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Belgium and France. Following release " Pagan Poetry " also performed well in Spain, while entering
16443-739: The United Nations and midtown Manhattan, counting down the days, hours, and minutes remaining in the U.S. president Donald Trump's first term. The Remains Board was initially illuminated during a durational performance of physical comedy by Josh Fadem. On inauguration day in 2021, at 12:00 p.m., Haela Hunt-Hendrix of Liturgy performed a guitar solo beneath the Remains Board as the clock began to approach 00:00:00. Following his inclusion in two group shows at Althea Viafora gallery in New York in 1990, Barney's solo debut in 1991 at
16632-595: The age of 21. After the Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992, Björk gained prominence as a solo artist with her albums Debut (1993), Post (1995), and Homogenic (1997), collaborating with artists from a range of disciplines and genres, and exploring a variety of multimedia projects. Her later, post-nineties, albums consist of Vespertine (2001), Medúlla (2004), Volta (2007), Biophilia (2011), Vulnicura (2015), Utopia (2017) and Fossora (2022). With sales of over 40 million records worldwide, Björk
16821-463: The album drew inspiration from Björk's new relationship with Matthew Barney , exploring themes related to sex, intimacy, eroticism, and love. Other lyrical sources include the poetry of E. E. Cummings and British playwright Sarah Kane 's Crave . Three singles were released from Vespertine : " Hidden Place ", " Pagan Poetry ", and " Cocoon ". The music videos of the latter two were banned on MTV for their depictions of sexuality. Björk embarked on
17010-609: The album to sound like "modern chamber music ", referring to the times where "the most ideal music situation was in the home, where people would play harps for each other". She also considers Vespertine to be the opposite of her previous studio album Homogenic , the former being an introverted, quiet, winter record; the latter a loud, dramatic, summer record. Björk has also described the album as "more electronic folk music ". Critics have classified Vespertine as electronica , art pop , psychedelia , ambient , trip-hop , folktronica , and glitch pop . Music journalists have also noted
17199-510: The album was produced in conjunction with Nellee Hooper , Tricky , Graham Massey of 808 State , and electronica producer Howie B . Building on the success of Debut , Björk continued to pursue different sounds, taking particular interest in dance and techno . Production by Tricky and Howie B also provided trip hop/electronica-like sounds on tracks like " Possibly Maybe " and "Enjoy". It was these producers' influence along with older friend Graham Massey that inspired Björk to create material like
17388-480: The album's first video, "Hidden Place", which was subsequently released as a DVD single. The next video, for "Pagan Poetry", brought Björk to an even higher level of controversy with the channel. The video features graphic piercings, Björk's exposed nipples, and simulated fellatio . As a result, the clip was banned from MTV. In 2002, it was aired unedited as part of a late night special on MTV2 titled, "Most Controversial Music Videos". The video for "Cocoon" also featured
17577-554: The album's release was scheduled for May, but by March it had been put back to August, so as to enable Björk to work on the album's promotion. On 22 May 2001, Björk premiered six songs off the new album in an intimate concert at the Riverside Church in New York City, accompanied by Matmos and Zeena Parkins. Vespertine was released on 27 August, as a double 12" record , CD and compact cassette . To coincide with
17766-428: The album, she collaborated with experimental musicians such as Matmos , Denmark-based DJ Thomas Knak , and harpist Zeena Parkins . Lyrical sources included the works of American poet E. E. Cummings , the American independent filmmaker Harmony Korine , and English playwright Sarah Kane 's penultimate play, Crave . To coincide with the album's release, an eponymous coffee table book of loose prose and photographs
17955-451: The album, stating that it "quietly proves that cutting-edge production and human contact aren't mutually exclusive." American music journalist Robert Christgau enjoyed the album's central theme of sex and wrote: "when she gets all soprano on your ass you could accuse her of spirituality". A more lukewarm review came from Pitchfork ' s Ryan Schreiber, who felt that: "while undeniably beautiful, Vespertine fails to give electronic music
18144-436: The arts collective Smekkleysa ("Bad Taste" in Icelandic), created with the intention of being both a record label and book publishing company. Various friends, namely Melax and Sigtryggur from Kukl, along with Bragi Ólafsson and Friðrik Erlingson from Purrkur Pillnikk, joined the group and a band coalesced in the collective solely to make money. They were initially called Þukl, but they were advertised as Kukl (the name of
18333-588: The award went to In Search of... by N.E.R.D . The same year, the album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Alternative Album , losing to Coldplay 's Parachutes . In addition, Björk was nominated for Best International Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards , and Best International Female Artist at the Italian Music Awards , while Vespertine was nominated for Album of the Year at
18522-504: The band appeared on Saturday Night Live . Björk alone contributed a rendition of the Christmas song "Jólakötturinn" ("The Christmas Cat") on the compilation Hvít Er Borg Og Bær . The band went on hiatus following the lack of reception of Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! (1989) and a lengthy international tour. During this time, Björk started working on her solo projects. In 1990 she provided background vocals on Gums by Bless. In
18711-414: The best albums of 2001 and of the decade, and has been evaluated by many critics to be one of the best albums of all time. Björk had released her previous studio album, Homogenic , in 1997. The album's style differed from her previous two releases, described by her as "very emotionally confrontational and [...] very dramatic". She also described " All Is Full of Love "— Homogenic ' s closing track—as
18900-504: The box set 7-inches for Planned Parenthood in support of the women's health organization. Björk launched Björk Digital in June 2016, a virtual reality exhibit showcasing all the VR videos completed for Vulnicura thus far, including the world premiere of "Notget", directed by Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, at Carriageworks for Vivid Sydney 2016 in Sydney, Australia. She DJ'd
19089-482: The box set in repackaged format. The DualDiscs were also released separately. Björk's former band, the Sugarcubes, reunited for a one-night-only concert in Reykjavík on 17 November 2006. Profits from the concert were donated to the Sugarcubes' former label, Smekkleysa , who according to Björk's press statement, "continue to work on a non-profit basis for the future betterment of Icelandic music". Björk contributed
19278-475: The cast of The Northman , the third feature film by Robert Eggers , co-written with Sjón , alongside her daughter Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney, in her debut film role. It was released on April 22, 2022, in the United States. In an interview with The Mercury News published on 19 January 2022, Björk mentioned that she was wrapping up work on her upcoming tenth studio album. She revealed in an interview with The Guardian , published on 19 August 2022, that
19467-454: The concert. When they later decided to keep playing together as a group, they used the name Kukl (" Sorcery " in Icelandic). Björk's acquaintance gave the group their studio to record in and released their first single in 1983. Their first big performance at a festival in Iceland was headlined by English anarchist punk band Crass , whose record label, Crass Records offered the band
19656-519: The concerts. She enlisted Matmos, Zeena Parkins, a choir of Inuit girls from Greenland , and conductor Simon Lee ; Visually, fauna illustrations by Ernst Haeckel were used as a backdrop during the tour. The tour opened at the Grand Rex in Paris on 18 August. While in Paris, she held a press conference to discuss the album but gave no individual interviews saying that: "she'd rather do music than talk about it." While in France she also received
19845-417: The cycle evolved over eight years, Barney looked beyond biology as a way to explore the creation of form, employing narrative models from other realms, such as biography, mythology, and geology. The photographs, drawings, and sculptures radiate outward from the narrative core of each film installment. Barney's photographs—framed in plastic and often arranged in diptychs and triptychs that distill moments from
20034-414: The development of Iceland's Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant , having divorced from Björk's father, Guðmundur Gunnarsson , an electrician and union leader, after Björk was born. She and her mother moved into a commune . Her stepfather is Sævar Árnason, a former guitarist in the band Pops. At six, Björk enrolled at Reykjavík school Barnamúsíkskóli, where she studied classical piano and flute . After
20223-498: The duo Matmos , and has also worked with harpist Zeena Parkins . Production on the album began whilst filming her role in Dancer in the Dark . Björk composed arrangements with thin-sounding instruments, including the harp, the celesta , clavichord , strings and custom music boxes . Assisted by Matmos, Björk created " microbeats " from various commonplace sounds, such as that of shuffling cards and ice being cracked. Lyrically,
20412-500: The end of 2003. Vespertine Live , a live album consisting of songs recorded during the Vespertine world tour, was included in the 2003 box set Live Box ; it also includes a live version of " All Is Full of Love ", a song from Homogenic and "Overture" from Selmasongs . Vespertine debuted at #19 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 75,000 units in its first week, becoming her career peak in sales. It also debuted upon
20601-502: The ensemble Alarm Will Sound , Arca on electronics (on festival dates the Haxan Cloak took over) and percussionist Manu Delago . After completing its New York residency, the tour travelled to Europe before ending in August 2015. New York's MoMA hosted a retrospective exhibition from 8 March – 7 June 2015 that chronicled Björk's career from Debut to Biophilia ; however, aspects of Vulnicura were included as well but not previously announced. The retrospective consisted of 4 parts:
20790-1637: The entire cycle organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum , premiered at the Museum Ludwig , Cologne, in June 2002 and subsequently traveled to the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. A large-scale exhibition of the entire “Drawing Restraint” series was organized by the 21st Century Museum for Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, in 2005 and traveled to Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art , Seoul; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art ; Serpentine Gallery , London; and Kunsthalle Wien , Vienna. Barney has also had major solo exhibitions organized by Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo (2003), Living Art Museum in Reykjavik (2003), Sammlung Goetz in Munich (2007), and Fondazione Merz in Turin (2008). His work has been included in major group exhibitions including "Moving Pictures" at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and Guggenheim Bilbao (2002), Venice Biennale (2003), "Quartet: Barney, Gober , Levine , Walker " at Walker Art Center in Minneapolis (2005), Biennial of Moving Images at Centre pour l’Image Contemporaine in Paris (2005), and "All in
20979-496: The fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography , biology , geology and mythology as well as notable themes of sex , intercourse , and conflict. His early pieces were sculptural installations combined with performance and video . Between 1994 and 2002, he created The Cremaster Cycle , a series of five films described by Jonathan Jones in The Guardian as "one of
21168-434: The film Dancer in the Dark , a musical drama about an immigrant named Selma who is struggling to pay for an operation to prevent her son from going blind. Director Lars von Trier eventually asked her to consider playing the role of Selma, convincing her that the only true way to capture the character of Selma was to have the composer of the music play the character. Eventually, she accepted. Filming began in early 1999, and
21357-459: The film debuted in 2000 at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival . The film received the Palme d'Or , and Björk received the Best Actress Award for her role. It was reported that the shoot was so physically and emotionally tiring that she vowed never to act again. Björk later stated that she always wanted to do one musical in her life, and Dancer in the Dark was the one. The soundtrack Björk created for
21546-497: The film was released with the title Selmasongs . The album features a duet with Thom Yorke of Radiohead titled " I've Seen It All ", which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and was performed at the 2001 Oscars (without Yorke), while Björk was wearing her celebrated swan dress . In 2001, Björk released the album Vespertine . It featured chamber orchestras, choirs, hushed vocals, microbeats made from household sounds, and personal, vulnerable themes. For
21735-550: The film, playing two occidental guests on a Japanese factory whaling vessel who ultimately transform into two whales. She is also responsible for the film's soundtrack, her second after Selmasongs . Björk also appeared in the 2005 documentary Screaming Masterpiece , which delves into the Icelandic music scene. The movie features archive footage of the Sugarcubes and Tappi Tíkarrass and an ongoing conversation with Björk herself. During this era, Björk earned another BRIT Awards nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist. She
21924-560: The film, she also began producing her next album, writing new music, and teaming with new collaborators. She has said " Selmasongs was the day job and Vespertine was the hobby". During this time, she also began to use her new laptop to write music, and Vespertine has been retrospectively referred to as "her laptop album". She initially set about making a record with a domestic mood featuring "everyday moods and everyday noises translating into melodies and beats", hence its working title Domestika . Marius de Vries told Sound on Sound that
22113-543: The film. The show traveled afterward to UCCA Beijing (2019-2020), then Hayward Gallery in London (2020- 2021). Barney has explored live performance before an audience. The pieces REN and Guardian of the Veil revisit the language of the Cremaster Cycle , via a ritualistic exploration of Egyptian symbolism inspired by Norman Mailer 's novel Ancient Evenings . Guardian of the Veil took place on July 12, 2007, at
22302-441: The first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop. Her work has been described as "frequently explor[ing] the relationship between nature and technology". Broadly summarising her wide-ranging integration of art and popular music, Joshua Ostroff suggested that "there is no better descriptor for what Björk does than artpop ". The NME also called her output a "consistently progressive pop agenda." Björk's work
22491-458: The first song on Vespertine , as it opposed the rest of the album's "aggressive, macho" aesthetic. Writer and critic Mark Pytlik writes, "Her appetite for thumping techno had been, temporarily at least, subsumed by a desire for stark melodies and minimalist production". In 2000, she starred in Lars von Trier 's Dancer in the Dark , and composed its soundtrack, Selmasongs . While she worked on
22680-437: The fluids in the video "visualiz[e] all possible emotions pulsating and circulating in her very busy brain. " Pagan Poetry ", was released on 5 November 2001 as two CDs and a DVD, featuring a remix by Matthew Herbert , "Domestica", "Batabid", an Opiate remix of "Aurora", and the music video for "Pagan Poetry". Nick Knight , who had previously shot the cover art for Homogenic , directed the music video for "Pagan Poetry". It
22869-505: The former and latter also receiving limited edition remix EPs. Utopia was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards , making Björk's fifteenth nomination at the Grammys. On 22 May 2018, Björk appeared as the headlining musical guest on Later... with Jools Holland , her first time on the BBC series since 2011. She sang a set of four songs, including
23058-489: The forward push it received on Björk's preceding albums". David Browne of Entertainment Weekly said "her lyrics occasionally dive into the deep end" and "her voice is at times stiff", although he also wrote "when it all comes together, [...] Björk and her electronica collaborators create moving interplanetary chorals". Almost Cool wrote: "if there's one question to be raised with the album, it's that it's all simply so lush and nice that on some levels it fails to excite". In
23247-425: The four CDs was later released separately at a reduced price. In August 2004, Björk released Medúlla . During production, Björk decided the album would work best as an entirely vocal-based album. This initial plan was modified, as the majority of the sounds on the album are indeed created by vocalists but several feature prominent basic electronic programming, as well as the occasional musical instrument. Björk used
23436-476: The four-minute mark, "all the music drops away, leaving Björk utterly exposed" as she sings "I love him, I love him/I love him, I love him/I love him, I love him". The song also features "a flotilla of music boxes with an Asian- teahouse touch". The instrumental interlude "Frosti" has been described as "metallic tundra ". Its sound stems from a music box, creating an intimate, fairy tale-like effect. "Frosti" fades into "Aurora", while "a warm, faintly crunchy sound"
23625-510: The gallery space, carrying the case and shark, accompanied by the onlookers and a herd of goats. At the Slaughterhouse, the case was opened, water poured out, and the drawings revealed. The shark was eventually cooked and fed to the guests. In June 2017, Barney, local art curator Brandon Stosuy, and other artists installed Remains Board on his studio in Long Island City. The board is a large seven-segment digital clock, visible from
23814-430: The landscape of Iceland, most notably in the song " Jóga ", which fuses lush strings with rocky electronic crunches. The album was certified gold in the US in 2001. The album was backed by string of music videos , several of which received airplay on MTV . The video for " Bachelorette " was directed by frequent collaborator Michel Gondry , while " All Is Full of Love " was directed by Chris Cunningham . The single "All
24003-493: The making of one last album, Stick Around for Joy (1992), with a subsequent promotional tour, which she agreed to do. Björk was featured on two tracks of the soundtrack for the 1992 film Remote Control (known as Sódóma Reykjavík in Iceland). The Sugarcubes split up after they played one last show in Reykjavík. Rolling Stone called them "the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland". Björk moved to London to pursue
24192-458: The minimalist nature of the track, pointing out a lack of hook , beat and melody . It is a slow song, as is the closing track, "Unison". The latter "[contains] a refrain directly inspired by [Björk's] experience in Dancer in the Dark and a healthy dollop of self-effacing humor evoked to counter the balance". It "brings beats and strings together in a final crescendo that also manages to incorporate
24381-525: The most imaginative and brilliant achievements in the history of avant-garde cinema." He is also known for his projects Drawing Restraint 9 (2005), River of Fundament (2014) and Redoubt (2018). Matthew Barney was born March 25, 1967, as the younger of two children in San Francisco, California , where he lived until he was 7. He lived in Boise, Idaho from 1973 to 1985, where his father got
24570-423: The most impressive and cohesive" albums of the year, Tiny Mix Tapes found Vespertine to be Björk's most effective use of the studio as an instrument . Chris Smith of Stylus Magazine praised the album for its nuance and delicacy, describing its sonic palette as "a breath of fresh air." Additionally, Vespertine was thought to have challenged gender roles in rock music and in sexuality. Q also praised
24759-486: The new album is called Fossora , a Latin word for "digging". Fossora was released on 30 September 2022. It was supported by four singles: " Atopos " on 6 September 2022, " Ovule " on 14 September, " Ancestress " on 22 September and the album's title track on 27 September. Also in September 2022 Björk ventured into podcasting, hosting Björk: Sonic Symbolism which, according to a press release, features her "discussing
24948-497: The newly built The Shed in New York and was described as Björk's "most elaborate staged concert to date." The residency show then traveled to Mexico and Europe for further dates in 2019. Following the performances, Björk released music videos for "Tabula Rasa" and "Losss", both directed by Tobias Gremmler and used as backdrop during the shows. On 16 August 2019, Björk announced the Utopia Bird Call Boxset ,
25137-628: The noise of crushing ice and shuffling cards, among others. In her documentary Minuscule , Björk explained that this process consisted of "taking something very tiny and magnifying it up to big", intending to convey the "sensation that you've been told a secret", that is also present in micrographs . Marius de Vries and Björk did much of the sound design on Vespertine with a text-based synthesizer called SuperCollider . De Vries said that typing in commands as opposed to using knobs , "take[s] you in surprising directions." Additionally, Knak used an Ensoniq ASR-10 , for "Cocoon". "The Björkian soundfield
25326-477: The opening night party and did the same when the show traveled to Tokyo, Japan on 29 June, showing at Miraikan. During the Miraikan residency, Björk made history by featuring in the world's first ever virtual reality live stream broadcast on YouTube. She gave a live performance of Vulnicura's final song "Quicksand", and the footage was incorporated into the "Quicksand" VR experience. Björk Digital has travelled
25515-534: The opening of the Deste Foundation 's exhibition space, the Slaughterhouse, located on the Greek island Hydra . The two-hour performance involved divers retrieving from a nearby cove a vitrine containing drawings which had been submerged for months. A funeral-like procession of fishermen carried the case up a winding set of stairs. At one point, a dead shark was laid on the case, and the fishermen proceeded to
25704-410: The photographs, drawings, sculptures, and installations the artist produces in conjunction with each episode. Its conceptual departure point is the male cremaster muscle , which controls testicular contractions in response to external stimuli. Barney's long-time collaborator Jonathan Bepler composed and arranged the films’ soundtracks. The project is rife with anatomical allusions to the position of
25893-507: The plot—often emulate classical portraiture. His graphite and petroleum jelly drawings represent key aspects of the project's conceptual framework. River of Fundament takes the form of a three-act opera and is loosely based on Norman Mailer ’s novel Ancient Evenings . In collaboration with composer Jonathan Bepler, Barney combines traditional modes of narrative cinema with filmed elements of performance, sculpture, and opera, reconstructing Mailer’s hypersexual story of Egyptian gods and
26082-449: The previous band). At a later concert supporting Icelandic band Stuðmenn, they referred to themselves as Sykurmolarnir ("Sugarcubes" in Icelandic). Their first double A-side single, "Einn mol'á mann", which contained the songs " Ammæli " ("Birthday") and "Köttur" ("Cat"), was released on 21 November 1986, Björk's 21st birthday. At the end of that year, the Sugarcubes signed with One Little Indian . Their first English single, "Birthday",
26271-426: The project was driven by an "overriding aesthetic of being homely and comfortable", which had "all to do with Björk wanting to make a record as a reaction to the wanderings and the pain she experienced making Dancer in the Dark … [and coming back] after you've wandered." Björk's initial idea was also to "celebrat[e] the banalities of everyday life." For example, the title track "Domestica", originally titled "Lost Keys",
26460-498: The public. The songs on the album were chosen by Björk's fans through a poll on her website. A DVD edition of the CD was also released. It contained all of Björk's solo music videos up to that point. The new single from the set, "It's in Our Hands" charted in the UK at number 37. The video, directed by Spike Jonze , features a heavily pregnant Björk. She gave birth to daughter Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney on 3 October 2002. Björk and
26649-559: The release of the album, Björk also released an eponymously titled coffee table book , created by her and edited and designed by M/M (Paris) . A second single, Towards the end of 2001, Vespertine was released as a DVD-Audio . The music videos for " Hidden Place ", " Pagan Poetry " and " Cocoon " were included in the DVDs Volumen Plus (2002) and Greatest Hits – Volumen 1993–2003 (2002). Together, Elektra , and New York-based independent marketing firm Drill Team, created
26838-433: The reproductive organs during the embryonic process of sexual differentiation: Cremaster 1 represents the most "ascended" or undifferentiated state, Cremaster 5 the most "descended" or differentiated. The cycle repeatedly returns to those moments during early sexual development in which the outcome of the process is still unknown. In Barney's metaphoric universe, these moments represent a condition of pure potentiality . As
27027-427: The same group. The album went on to sell more than one million copies worldwide. Björk contributed as a background vocalist on 1987 album Loftmynd by Megas , for whom she provided background vocals also on his subsequent album Höfuðlausnir (1988) and Hættuleg hljómsveit & glæpakvendið Stella (1990). In the last quarter of 1988, the Sugarcubes toured North America to positive reception. On 15 October,
27216-403: The same year, she recorded Gling-Gló , a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar , which as of 2011 was still her best-selling album in her home country. Björk also contributed vocals to 808 State 's album ex:el , with whom she cultivated her interest in house music . She contributed vocals on the songs "Qmart" and on "Ooops", which
27405-489: The sensual" allusions of the album. Vespertine is also characterised by "the obsession with sonic traces of analog technology – that is, the pervasive use of loops , static and white noise ". Unlike previous albums like Debut and Post , "electronic sounds are the norm, and the acoustic sounds become the interjections." Influenced by the 1999 album New Ancient Strings , a recording of kora duets by Toumani Diabaté with Ballaké Sissoko , Björk said she "messed up
27594-550: The service of one man's intricate fantasy of return to the womb. Something lovely and exasperating is forever in formation there. Will he ever give birth?" "Barney is the real thing. When he brings his boundless imagination to a subject he goes down to its depths to create images and implant ideas that stay in your mind for ever" writes art historian Richard Dorment in The Daily Telegraph . Kanye West also admires Barney's work and credited him as an influence on
27783-633: The seven stages of reincarnation, alongside the rise and fall of the American car industry. Barney replaced the human body with the body of the 1967 Chrysler Imperial that was the central motif from his earlier film Cremaster 3 . The film’s central scene is an abstraction of Mailer’s wake, set in a replica of the late author’s apartment in Brooklyn Heights and featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal , Paul Giamatti , Elaine Stritch , Ellen Burstyn , Peter Donald Badalamenti II, Joan La Barbara , and jazz percussionist Milford Graves . Barney began producing
27972-589: The song " Oceania " at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . As she sang, her dress slowly unfurled to reveal a 10,000 square foot (900 m ) map of the world, which she let flow over all of the Olympic athletes. The song "Oceania" was written especially for the occasion and features the talents of Shlomo , a Leeds -based beatboxer , and a London choir. An alternative version of
28161-475: The song began circulating on the Internet with additional vocals by Kelis . It originally appeared on the promotional "Oceania" single released to radio stations and later became available to the public as a B-side of the " Who Is It " single, which charted at number 26 in the UK. This was followed in early 2005 by " Triumph of a Heart ", charting at number 31. A video for the potential next single, " Where Is
28350-401: The song is intended to support the inhabitants of Seyðisfjörður in the campaign against Norwegian-owned fish farming operations that threaten to degrade local ecosystems. The proceeds from this song will be donated to Aegis, an environmental organization Björk founded with other Icelandic activists to stop the intensive fish farming that is destroying the fjords. In 2024, Björk appeared on
28539-473: The song was instead recorded by another Icelander, Emilíana Torrini . In 2002 the CD box set Family Tree was issued. It comprised selected rarities as well as previously unreleased versions of her compositions, including her work with the Brodsky Quartet . Also released alongside Family Tree was the album Greatest Hits , a retrospective of the previous 10 years of her solo career as deemed by
28728-446: The sound of too angelic instruments, like the harp or the glockenspiel " on Vespertine . Björk's voice is used as a supplement to "the complex electronic textures". Her vocals often appear to be recorded close to the microphone and with little treatment, and sung in a sometimes "unstable whisper", conveying a sense of close proximity and reduced space suitable for the intimate lyrics. The album opens with " Hidden Place ", which features
28917-464: The storming industrial beats of " Army of Me ". The album was ranked number 7 in Spin 's "Top 90 Albums of the '90s" list and number 75 in its "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005" list. Post and Homogenic were placed back to back on Pitchfork Media 's "Top Albums of the '90s" list at numbers 21 and 20, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 373 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of
29106-438: The string and music box arrangements, she used Sibelius scorewriter software. For Vespertine, Björk wanted to make a "microcosmos of thirty or forty beats interacting". To do this, she recorded noises around her house to make beats out of them. Once the songs were almost finished, Björk contacted the duo Matmos , who she considered "virtuosos" in the field, and sent them various songs to work with. They added beats made from
29295-423: The textures, timbres and emotional landscapes of each of her albums" with friends writer Oddný Eir and musicologist Ásmundur Jónsson; the first three episodes of the podcast, covering Debut , Post and Homogenic , premiered on 1 September. Björk released the single " Oral ", featuring Rosalía with production from Sega Bodega , on 21 November 2023. A reworked demo written between Homogenic and Vespertine ,
29484-544: The third disc contains "The Volta Videos" and the video competition, while the fourth is The Volta Mixes CD. In May 2010, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music announced that Björk was to receive the Polar Music Prize alongside Ennio Morricone . A month later, Björk, along with Dirty Projectors , announced that they would be collaborating on a joint EP, titled Mount Wittenberg Orca , which
29673-553: The top spot on the Top Electronic Albums chart, staying there for 3 weeks. One Little Indian head Derek Birket declaring that the album had sold over 1.2 million copies in Europe alone. That month, the album also became number one on the album charts in Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Norway, and the European Top 100 Albums chart. In addition, Vespertine charted in the top 10 of Canada, Italy, Germany, Japan,
29862-547: The tour, Björk was scheduled to perform at the Bluedot Festival in July 2020; however, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and she is now scheduled to headline in 2022. Following the rescheduling, Björk announced a series of concerts to be live streamed online for charity, with each concert featuring a different set of musicians and instruments and a unique set list. In August 2020, Björk joined
30051-477: The university's Payne Whitney Gymnasium . In the 1990s, Barney moved to New York, where he worked as a catalog model , a career that helped him finance his early work as an artist. In 2002, Barney had a daughter with his then partner, the singer Björk , with whom he lived in a penthouse co-op in Brooklyn Heights. By September 2013, Barney and Björk were no longer a couple; Björk chronicled the breakup in her 2015 album Vulnicura . As of 2014 , Barney maintained
30240-426: The video contains a great deal of post-production by Peter Marin, who gave the image its abstract watercolor -like effect. The shots of Björk with her Alexander McQueen topless wedding dress were filmed in super 35 format. The main idea behind the music video was: "to do something with the moving image that was a mirror of what was happening musically". Although the music video has been well received by critics, it
30429-400: The vocal and accompaniment provided by a string orchestra , a harp, and soft electronica. The track's lyrics have been considered a "startling allusion to masturbation ", positioned "within the fantasy-like imagery of burning flowers, sea-girls, darkness and the sun". "Heirloom" alters "between what sounds like a samba preset on a vintage Wurlitzer organ and skittering breakbeats , and
30618-420: The vocal skills of throat singer Tanya Tagaq , hip hop beatboxer Rahzel , Japanese beatboxer Dokaka , avant-rocker Mike Patton , Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatt , and several choirs . She again appropriated text from E. E. Cummings for the song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI". At the time, Medúlla became her highest-charting album in the US, debuting at number 14. In August 2004, Björk performed
30807-471: The walls and ceiling, a Cinema room showcasing most of Björk's music videos, newly transferred in high definition, and the Songlines walking exhibit which showcased Björk's notebooks, costumes and props from throughout her career. A book entitled Björk: Archives , documenting the content of the exhibition, was published in March. In addition to the "Black Lake" video, videos for "Lionsong" (which played in
30996-485: The words of Chris Chang, Barney's Cremaster films, though "completely arcane, hermetic and solipsistic ... nevertheless periodically provide some of the most enigmatically beautiful experimental film imagery you'll ever see." "Is Barney's work a new beginning for a new century?", asks Richard Lacayo, writing in Time . "It feels more like a very energetic longing for a beginning, in which all kinds of imagery have been put to
31185-406: The world with stops in London, Montreal, Houston, Los Angeles and Barcelona. On 2 August 2017, Björk announced with a handwritten note on her social media the imminent release of a new album. The announcement coincided with an interview for Dazed ' s autumn 2017 cover issue in which Björk talked about the new album. The lead single, " The Gate " was released on 15 September 2017. Its video
31374-646: Was "hell" – it was like divorce!", stating, "So we [were] doing paradise [...] We have done hell, we have earned some points." She produced the album with Arca , whom she collaborated with on Vulnicura . Björk has described her collaborative journey with Arca as "the strongest musical relationship [she's] had", likening it to that of Joni Mitchell and Jaco Pastorius during the albums Hejira and Don Juan's Reckless Daughter ("It's that synergy when two people lose their ego"), which have both been praised by Björk. Three additional music videos were released in 2017: " Blissing Me ", "Utopia" and " Arisen My Senses " with
31563-400: Was 11 years old and was released in Iceland in December 1977. During her teens, after the diffusion of punk rock music in Iceland, Björk formed the all-girl punk band Spit and Snot. In 1980, she formed a jazz fusion group, Exodus, collaborated in another group, JAM80, and graduated from music school. In 1982, she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another group, Tappi Tíkarrass ("Cork
31752-426: Was Björk's Biophilia education programme, which consisted of workshops for school-children aged 10–12, that explore the intersection of music and science. The Reykjavík City Board of Education brought the programme to all schools in the city over the next three years. She released the 2012 remix album Bastards . It featured remixes by Death Grips and Syrian musician Omar Souleyman . In 2013, Björk featured in
31941-460: Was a series of interactive iPad apps made by programmers and designers, one app for each of the 10 songs on the new album. The second single, " Cosmogony ", which served as the "mother app" for all the others, was released on 19 July 2011, followed by " Virus " and " Moon ". Biophilia was the first album to be released, in October 2011, as a series of interactive apps. Also in part of the project
32130-660: Was also awarded the Inspiration Award at the Annual Q Magazine Awards in October 2005, accepting the prize from Robert Wyatt, with whom she collaborated on Medúlla . In 2006, Björk remastered her first three solo studio albums ( Debut , Post , Homogenic ) and her two soundtrack albums ( Selmasongs and Drawing Restraint 9 ) in 5.1 surround sound for a re-issue in a new box-set titled Surrounded , released on 27 June. Vespertine and Medúlla were already available in 5.1 as either DVD-A or SACD but are also included in
32319-422: Was announced on double CD / double LP sets sold exclusively through Rough Trade record shops. The set sold out online five days after being announced but limited quantities were made available in store in London and Brooklyn. Each format is limited to 1000 copies each, making it one of the rarest physical releases of Björk's recent career. The CD was released on 13 November 2015 with the picture disc vinyls released
32508-602: Was announced, with a release date in North America of 20 April 2009 (later delayed to mid-June). The release consists of various live recordings of performances in Paris and Reykjavík. The live set was also recorded at the Olympic Studio in London. The first disc is audio of songs from the Volta tour performed live at Olympic Studios; the second disc contains video of the Volta tour live in Paris and live in Reykjavík;
32697-453: Was directed by the visual artist Andrew Thomas Huang . The same day of the single's release, Björk announced the album title, Utopia , during an interview with Nowness . Utopia was released on 24 November 2017. She described it as her " Tinder album" and stated that "it's about that search (for utopia) – and about being in love. Spending time with a person you enjoy is when the dream becomes real." Björk added that her previous album
32886-840: Was held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2006 and included over 150 objects of varying media. Drawing Restraint 10 – 16 (2005–07) are site-specific performances that recall the earlier Yale pieces. Drawing Restraint 17 and 18 were performed at the Schaulager in Basel in 2010 in conjunction with the exhibition "Prayer Sheet with the Wound and the Nail," a survey of the Drawing Restraint series through Drawing Restraint 18 . Drawing Restraint 19 employs
33075-553: Was highly controversial and banned from MTV in 2001. " Cocoon ", the album's third single, was released on 11 March 2002. Its music video had premiered in February. Once again, the single was released as two separate CDs and a DVD, with "Pagan Poetry", "Sun in My Mouth" and "Amphibian" as B-sides. The music video for "Cocoon" was directed by Eiko Ishioka and was shot in April 2001 in New York City. One of Björk's most avant-garde music videos, it: "plays with minimalist white for both costume and bleached eyebrows, treating Björk as
33264-414: Was initially labelled as a new single by Björk, with backing vocals from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke . Björk's official website later stated that the single would be released on 27 October 2008 through iTunes , but the track was eventually made available at nattura.grapewire.net, exclusively. In a statement released by bjork.com, a limited edition box set titled Voltaïc from One Little Indian Records
33453-437: Was meant to be a "gentle, humorous snapshot" of Björk looking for her keys. Her new relationship with artist Matthew Barney , and the tension while filming Dancer in the Dark , have been referred to as the two major forces that shaped what would become Vespertine . Her relationship with Barney influenced her lyrics, which were now more intimate, detailed, and revealing as opposed to those of her past works. A particular example
33642-469: Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for " I've Seen It All ". Björk has also been an advocate for environmental causes in Iceland. A retrospective exhibition dedicated to Björk was held at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2015. Björk Guðmundsdóttir was born on 21 November 1965 in Reykjavík . She was raised by her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir (7 October 1946 – 25 October 2018 ), an activist who protested against
33831-404: Was originally planned for a song from Selmasongs , but Björk felt the project was more appropriate for Vespertine . The video consists of close-up shots panning around Björk's face, as fluids flow in and out of her facial orifices. M/M (Paris) said that they "wanted to get as close to her as we could, as we all felt she had never been portrayed as the 'real' and beautiful woman she is.", and that
34020-512: Was performed on site by skateboarder Lance Mountain , documented by photographer Joe Brook and published by Juxtapoz Magazine in their February 2013 issue. The board was purchased by People Skate and Snowboard and it is displayed at their only location in Keego Harbor, Michigan . Matthew Barney's epic Cremaster cycle (1994–2002) is a self-enclosed aesthetic system consisting of five feature-length films that explore processes of creation. The cycle unfolds not just cinematically, but also through
34209-423: Was positively compared to recent album releases from Madonna and Beyoncé , the former of whom also released her album to iTunes after being leaked, and the latter of whom wanted to revolutionize how albums were released and consumed. Björk began her world tour in March 2015 at Carnegie Hall performing " Black Lake " and other tracks from Vulnicura as well as several from her back catalog with accompaniment from
34398-520: Was published. Björk embarked on the Vespertine world tour . The shows were held in theatres and opera houses in order to have "the best acoustics possible." She was accompanied by Matmos, Parkins and an Inuit choir, whom she had held auditions for on a trip to Greenland prior to the tour. At the time, Vespertine was Björk's fastest selling album to date, having sold two million copies by the end of 2001. Vespertine spawned three singles: " Hidden Place ", " Pagan Poetry ", and " Cocoon ". MTV2 played
34587-417: Was released as a single in the UK in 1991. She also contributed vocals to the song "Falling", on the album Island by Current 93 and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson . In the same year she met harpist Corky Hale , with whom she had a recording session that ended up as a track on her future album Debut . At this point, Björk had decided to leave the band to pursue her solo career, but their contract included
34776-399: Was released as the album's lead single, its music video having premiered in July. It was released as two CDs and a DVD , featuring B-sides "Generous Palmstroke", "Foot Soldier", "Mother Heroic" and "Verandi". The music video for "Hidden Place" was directed by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and co-directed by M/M (Paris) . It was shot in London over four days in February 2001. It
34965-407: Was released in the United Kingdom on 17 August 1987; a week later, it was declared single of the week by Melody Maker . The Sugarcubes also signed a distribution deal with Elektra Records in the United States and recorded their first album, Life's Too Good , which was released in 1988. After the release of the album, Eldon and Björk divorced soon after the birth of their child despite being in
35154-435: Was released on 1 January 2008 in a super deluxe package including two 12" vinyls, a CD, and a DVD featuring Gondry's "Declare Independence" video. " Wanderlust " was subsequently released in a similar format, featuring Encyclopedia Pictura's short film directed for the track, shot in stereoscopic 3D . The fifth single released from the album was " The Dull Flame of Desire ", featuring vocals by Anohni . Björk then completed
35343-406: Was released on 1 May 2007. It features 10 tracks. The album features input from hip hop producer Timbaland , singer Anohni , poet Sjón , electronic beat programmer Mark Bell , kora master Toumani Diabaté , Congolese thumb piano band Konono No 1 , pipa player Min Xiaofen , and, on several songs, an all-female ensemble from Iceland performing brass compositions. It also uses the Reactable ,
35532-405: Was released on 30 June, to raise money for marine conservation. In September 2010, Björk released " The Comet Song " as part of the soundtrack for the movie Moomins and the Comet Chase . Also in 2010, she dueted with fellow Icelander (and One Little Indian labelmate) Ólöf Arnalds on a track called "Surrender" from Arnalds's new album, Innundir skinni , and performed a duet with Anohni on
35721-412: Was sung with only a saxophone ensemble for accompaniment. At the 1994 Brit Awards , Björk won the awards for Best International Female and Best International Newcomer . The success of Debut enabled her to collaborate with British and other artists on one-off tracks. She worked with David Arnold on " Play Dead ", the theme to the 1993 film The Young Americans (which appeared as a bonus track on
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