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Björk

March 20, 2023

This article is about the singer. For her self-titled album, see Björk (album). For other uses, see Björk (disambiguation).
This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Björk.

Björk Guðmundsdóttir OTF (/bjɜːrk/ BYURK, Icelandic: [pjœr̥k ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtouhtɪr̥] (listen); born 21 November 1965) is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has developed an eclectic musical style over her four-decade career that has drawn on electronic, pop, experimental, trip hop, classical, and avant-garde music.

Björk

OTF
Björk performing in Paris during her Björk Orkestral show in June 2022
Born
Björk Guðmundsdóttir

(1965-11-21) 21 November 1965 (age 57)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • composer
  • record producer
  • actress
Years active1975–present
Notable work
Spouse
Þór Eldon
​
​
(m. 1986; div. 1987)​
Partner(s)Matthew Barney
(2000–2013)[1]
Children2
Parent
AwardsFull list
Musical career
Genres
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • flute
  • piano
Labels
Formerly of
Websitebjork.com
Signature

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 the age of 21.[2] After the Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992, Björk began a solo career. She came to prominence with albums such as Debut (1993), Post (1995), and Homogenic (1997), collaborating with a range of artists and exploring a variety of multimedia projects. Her other albums include Vespertine (2001), Medúlla (2004), Volta (2007), Biophilia (2011), Vulnicura (2015), Utopia (2017) and Fossora (2022).

Several of Björk's albums have reached the top 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart. As of 2015, she had sold more than 20 million records worldwide.[3][4] 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".[5][6] Her accolades and awards include the Order of the Falcon, five BRIT Awards, and 15 Grammy nominations. In 2015, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.[7][8] Rolling Stone named her the 60th greatest singer and the 81st greatest songwriter.

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,[9] and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I've Seen It All". Biophilia was marketed as an interactive app album with its own education program. Björk has also been an advocate for environmental causes in Iceland. A retrospective exhibition dedicated to Björk was held at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2015.[10]

Life and career

1965–1984: Early life and career beginnings

Björk was born on 21 November 1965 in Reykjavík,[11] where she grew up. Her mother was activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir (7 October 1946 – 25 October 2018[12]), who protested against the development of Iceland's Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant.[13] Her father is Guðmundur Gunnarsson, a union leader and electrician. They divorced when Björk was born and she moved with her mother to a commune.[14][15] Her stepfather is Sævar Árnason, a former guitarist in the band Pops.[15] At six, Björk enrolled at Reykjavík school Barnamúsíkskóli, where she studied classical piano and flute.[11] After 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 was then Iceland's only radio station. The recording was nationally broadcast and, after hearing it, a representative of the Fálkinn record label offered Björk a recording contract. Her début, Björk, was recorded when she was 11 years old and was released in Iceland in December 1977.[16]

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.[11] In 1982, she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another group, Tappi Tíkarrass ("Cork the Bitch's Ass" in Icelandic), and released EP Bitið fast í vitið ("Bite Hard Into Hell" 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.[11][17] Around this time, Björk met guitarist Þór Eldon and surrealist group Medusa, which also included poet Sjón, with whom she started a lifelong collaboration and formed a group, Rokka Rokka Drum.[18] She described her time as part of Medusa as "a gorgeous D.I.Y. organic university: extreme fertility!"[19] Björk appeared as a featured artist on "Afi", a track from the Björgvin Gíslason 1983 record Örugglega.[15]

Due to the imminent discontinuance of radio show Áfangar, two radio personalities, Ásmundur Jónsson and Guðni Rúnar, requested musicians to play on 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.[20] The group developed a gothic rock sound. During this experience, Björk began to develop her vocalisation – punctuated by howls and shrieks.[11] The project performed as Gott kvöld during the concert. When they later decided to keep playing together as a group, they used the name Kukl ("Sorcery" in Icelandic).[20] Björk's acquaintance gave the group their studio to record in and released their first single in 1983.[20] 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 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.[14][20] During this period Björk published a hand-coloured book of poems. Um Úrnat frá Björk was distributed in 1984.[11]

1985–1992: The Sugarcubes, marriage and motherhood

Main article: The Sugarcubes

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 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.[11][21]

 
Björk performing in Japan with the Sugarcubes in 1992

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.[11] That summer, former band member Einar Örn and Eldon formed the arts collective Smekkleysa ("Bad Taste" in Icelandic), created with the intention of being both a record label and book publishing company.[11][21] 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.[21] They were initially called Þukl, but they were advertised as Kukl (the name of 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.[21]

At the end of that year, the Sugarcubes signed with One Little Indian.[21] Their first English single, "Birthday", was released in the United Kingdom on 17 August 1987; a week later, it was declared single of the week by Melody Maker.[21] 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.[22] After the release of the album, Eldon and Björk divorced soon after the birth of their child despite being in the same group.[23] The album went on to sell more than one million copies worldwide.[22] 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).[15]

In the last quarter of 1988, the Sugarcubes toured North America to positive reception.[22] On 15 October, 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.[15] The band went on hiatus following the lack of reception of Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! (1989) and a lengthy international tour.[23] During this time, Björk started working on her solo projects. In 1990 she provided background vocals on Gums by Bless.[15] In 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.[11][22] 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 was released as a single in the UK in 1991.[15] She also contributed vocals to the song "Falling", on the album Island by Current 93 and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.[15] 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.[11]

At this point, Björk had decided to leave the band to pursue her solo career, but their contract included the making of one last album, Stick Around for Joy (1992), with a subsequent promotional tour, which she agreed to do.[22] Björk was featured on two tracks of the soundtrack for the 1992 film Remote Control (known as Sódóma Reykjavík in Iceland).[15] The Sugarcubes split up after they played one last show in Reykjavík.[22] Rolling Stone called them "the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland".[24]

1993–1996: Debut and Post

Björk moved to London to pursue 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 a frequent collaborator for Björk.[25] 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.[26] 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 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", 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.[27] 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 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, 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 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.[28][29] Post and Homogenic were placed back to back on Pitchfork Media's "Top Albums of the '90s" list at numbers 21 and 20, respectively.[30][31] In 2003, the album was ranked number 373 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[32] During this period, the press exalted Björk's eccentricity by creating a "pixie" persona around her,[33] a descriptor she later confronted with her following albums.[34]

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.[26] Björk also contributed to the 1995 Hector Zazou collaborative album Chansons des mers froides, singing the traditional Icelandic song "Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu".

On 12 September 1996, disturbed fan Ricardo López mailed a letter bomb loaded with sulphuric acid to Björk's London home before filming his suicide.[35] The package was intercepted by the Metropolitan Police Service.[35][36][37] In her few public comments on this event, Björk said she was "very distressed" by the incident[38] and "I make music, but in other terms, you know, people shouldn't take me too literally and get involved in my personal life."[39]

1997–2000: Homogenic and Dancer in the Dark

 
Björk performing during the Homogenic Tour in 1997

Björk left London for Spain, where she recorded the album Homogenic,[40] 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 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.[26] 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 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."[40]

In 1999, Björk was asked to write and produce the musical score for 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.[41] Eventually, she accepted. Filming began in early 1999, and 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.[9] It was reported that the shoot was so physically and emotionally tiring that she vowed never to act again.[42] Björk later stated that she always wanted to do one musical in her life, and Dancer in the Dark was the one.[43] The soundtrack Björk created for 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.[44]

2001–2003: Vespertine and Greatest Hits

 
Björk at the 2001 Academy Awards, wearing her 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 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 was published.[45] 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.[46] At the time, Vespertine was Björk's fastest selling album to date, having sold two million copies by the end of 2001.[47]

Vespertine spawned three singles: "Hidden Place", "Pagan Poetry", and "Cocoon". MTV2 played 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.[48] 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 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.[49] 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; 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 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.[5] The video, directed by Spike Jonze, features a heavily pregnant Björk. She gave birth to daughter Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney on 3 October 2002.[50] Björk and 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 the four CDs was later released separately at a reduced price.

2004–2006: Medúlla and Drawing Restraint 9

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 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.[51]

In August 2004, Björk performed 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 m2) 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 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.[52] This was followed in early 2005 by "Triumph of a Heart", charting at number 31.[53] A video for the potential next single, "Where Is 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.

 
Björk DJing off her laptop in 2006

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 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.[54] She 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.[55] 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 the box set in repackaged format. The DualDiscs were also released separately.[56] 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".[57]

2007–2010: Volta

Björk contributed a cover of Joni Mitchell's song "The Boho Dance" to the album A Tribute to Joni Mitchell (2007).[58] 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.[59] Björk starred in Gunar Karlsson's 2007 animated film Anna and the Moods, along with Terry Jones and Damon Albarn.

 
Björk performing at the Big Day Out festival in Melbourne, 2008

Björk's sixth full-length studio album, Volta, was released on 7 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, 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 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" 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.[60] "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 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 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.[61]

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 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,[62] but the track was eventually made available at nattura.grapewire.net, exclusively.[63] In a statement released by bjork.com, a limited edition box set titled Voltaïc from One Little Indian Records 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 Reykjavik; the third disc contains "The Volta Videos" and the video competition, while the fourth is The Volta Mixes CD.[64]

In May 2010, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music announced that Björk was to receive the Polar Music Prize alongside Ennio Morricone.[65] A month later, Björk, along with Dirty Projectors, announced that they would be collaborating on a joint EP, titled Mount Wittenberg Orca, which was released on 30 June, to raise money for marine conservation.[66] 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,[67] and performed a duet with Anohni on the Antony and the Johnsons album Swanlights. The song is titled "Flétta".[68] 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 a tribute to McQueen, with whom Björk collaborated on multiple occasions.

2011–2016: Biophilia and Vulnicura

Björk appeared on Átta Raddir, one of Jónas Sen's TV shows. The episode aired on 27 February 2011.[69] The shows are produced by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.[70] In the show Björk performed eight songs, including "Sun in My Mouth", which had not previously been performed live.

 
Björk performing at the Cirque en Chantier in Paris (February 2013)

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 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.[71] 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 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.[72] Also in part of the project 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 Reykjavik City Board of Education brought the programme to all schools in the city over the next three years.[73]

She released the 2012 remix album Bastards. It featured remixes by Death Grips and Syrian musician Omar Souleyman.[74][75] In 2013, Björk featured in 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.[76] In 2014, the apps were the first ever to be inducted into the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.[72] In June, Björk recorded original vocal samples for Death Grips, which they used on all 8 songs of Niggas on the Moon, the first part of their double LP, The Powers That B.[77] In late 2014, a concert film, Björk: Biophilia Live, was released worldwide, including in more than 400 cinemas.[78]

Björk worked with producers Arca and the Haxan Cloak on her ninth studio album, titled Vulnicura.[79] On 18 January 2015, just days after being publicly announced, and two months ahead of its scheduled release, a supposed full version of the album leaked online.[80][81] 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.[82] 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.[83] Its surprise release 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.[84] 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 the ensemble Alarm Will Sound, Arca on electronics (on festival dates the Haxan Cloak took over) and percussionist Manu Delago.[85] After completing its New York residency, the tour travelled to Europe before ending in August 2015.

 
Björk on stage at New York City Center (April 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.[86] The retrospective consisted of 4 parts: 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 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.[87] In addition to the "Black Lake" video, videos for "Lionsong" (which played in 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.[88] It 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.[89] A week later, Vulnicura Live 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 a week later.[90] On 7 December 2015, Vulnicura was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.[91] 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.[92] The performance of "Come to Me" from the album was also included in the box set 7-inches for Planned Parenthood in support of the women's health organization.[93][94]

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 the opening night party[95] and did the same when the show traveled to Tokyo, Japan on 29 June,[96] 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 the world with stops in London, Montreal, Houston, Los Angeles and Barcelona.

2017–present: Utopia and Fossora

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.[97][98] The lead single, "The Gate" was released on 15 September 2017.[99] Its accompanying video was directed by visual artist Andrew Thomas Huang.[100] The same day of the single's release, Björk announced the album's title, Utopia, during an interview with Nowness.[101]

Utopia was released on 24 November 2017.[102] 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."[103][104] Björk added that her previous album was "hell" – it was like divorce!", stating, "So we [were] doing paradise [...] We have done hell, we have earned some points."[105][106] 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.[100] Three additional music videos were released in 2017: "Blissing Me", "Utopia" and "Arisen My Senses" with the former and latter also receiving limited edition remix EPs.[107][108][109] Utopia was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, making Björk's fifteenth nomination at the Grammys.[110]

 
Bjork performing at the Eden Project in 2018

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.[111] She sang a set of four songs, including 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.[112][113][114] 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".[115][116] Cornucopia opened in May 2019 at the newly built The Shed in New York and was described as Björk's "most elaborate staged concert to date."[117][118] The residency show then traveled to Mexico and Europe for further dates in 2019.[119][120] Following the performances, Björk released music videos for "Tabula Rasa" and "Losss", both directed by Tobias Gremmler and used as backdrop during the shows.[121][122] On 16 August 2019, Björk announced the Utopia Bird Call Boxset, 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".[123][124] 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.[125]

On 27 September 2019, Björk made 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.[126] The song is included on Arca's fourth studio album KiCk i, which was released on June 26, 2020.[127] 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.[128][129] As part of 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.[130] 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.[131]

In August 2020, Björk joined 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.[132][133] 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.[134] She revealed in an interview with The Guardian, published on 19 August 2022, that the new album is called Fossora, a Latin word for "digging".[135] 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 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.[136]

Artistry

Style

Over her three-decade solo career, Björk has developed an eclectic and avant-garde[137][138] musical style that incorporates aspects of electronic,[137][139][140][141] dance,[141][142] alternative dance,[143] trip hop,[144] experimental,[1][145][146] glitch,[138] jazz,[138][147] alternative rock,[148][149] instrumental,[137] and contemporary classical music.[140][146] Her music has since been subject to critical analysis and scrutiny, as she consistently defies categorization in a musical genre.[150] Although she often calls herself a pop artist,[1] she is considered a "restlessly experimental creative force."[151][152] 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."[153] Her album Debut, which incorporated electronic, house, jazz, and trip hop, has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop.[154][155] Her work has been described as "frequently explor[ing] the relationship between nature and technology."[156] Broadly summarizing her wide-ranging integration of art and popular music, Joshua Ostroff suggested that "there is no better descriptor for what Björk does than artpop."[143] The NME also called her output a "consistently progressive pop agenda."[157]

Björk's work 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.[158]

Evolution

 
"Human Behaviour"
"Human Behaviour", the lead single from Debut (1993). An underground dance hit, it showcases Björk's interest in house music early in her solo career, evident in its four on the floor rhythm pattern.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

During her career beginnings, Björk performed in bands from various musical genres: punk rock in Spit and Snot, jazz fusion in Exodus, post-punk in Tappi Tíkarrass and Gothic rock in Kukl.[11] When working with Tappi Tíkarrass, she was heavily influenced by British new wave bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees,[159] Wire, the Passions, the Slits, Joy Division,[160] and Killing Joke.[161] The studio album Gling-Gló (1990) was recorded with Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar and featured jazz and popular standards sung "very much in the classic Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan mould."[162] The Sugarcubes' style has been described as avant-pop[139] and alternative rock.[163] Although Björk was in various post-punk and alternative rock bands during the late 1980s, her contact with London's underground club culture helped her find her own musical identity.[164]

Debut, released in 1993, has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop.[165][166] Being a fan of dance music since the early days of acid house, Björk used dance music as the framework for her songs in Debut, stating in 1993 that it was the only "pop music that is truly modern" and "place where anything creative is happening today."[167] However, in a Rolling Stone interview she also stated that she was more influenced by the sensual and groundbreaking ambient music formerly found in Chicago and Detroit.[168] The music of Debut reflects the contemporary musical environment of London, where [Björk] lived in the early 1990s, especially the burgeoning trip-hop scene of bands like Portishead and Massive Attack.[169] Michael Cragg of The Guardian has described it as an "indefinable conflation of electronic pop, trip-hop, world music and otherworldly lyrics";[170] while The Face's Mandi James said it was "a delightful fusion of thrash metal, jazz, funk and opera, with the odd dash of exotica thrown in for good measure."[171]

The 1995 album Post, known for its eclecticism,[172] is considered to be the "quintessential Björk" release, due to its protean form – more than any of her albums – and its "wide emotional palette".[173] The entirety of the album was written after Björk's move to England, and intended to reflect the faster pace of her new urban life.[174] The Guardian wrote that "Post tapped into the vortex of multicultural energy that was mid-90s London, where she had relocated and where strange hybrids such as jungle and trip-hop were bubbling."[175] Post built on the dance-pop blueprint of Debut, but pushed its production and beats to the fore, with influences from all over the world.[176] While the "distant echoes" of IDM and trip-hop were present in Debut, Post is characterised by Björk's fuller incorporation of these styles.[166] Referred to as a "genre roulette" by the San Francisco Chronicle,[177] it touches on various musical styles, including industrial music,[178] big-band jazz, trip-hop, chillout,[178] and experimental music.[179] The balance between synthetic and organic elements in the album – generated through the combination of electronic and "real" instruments – is a recurring characteristic in Björk's output.[180][181]

 
Mark Bell contributed to much of Björk's material, including his co-production of Homogenic, until his death in 2014.

With her 1997 album Homogenic, Björk intended to make a simple, one-flavoured record, in contrast with her previous releases.[182] Conceptually focused on her native Iceland,[182] the album is a "fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica".[183][184] Björk incorporated a traditional singing method used by Icelandic choir men, a combination of speaking and singing as illustrated in the song "Unravel".[185] While Homogenic still showed Björk's inclination towards electronic dance-music and techno-futurism, Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone reflected on how the album was has steered away from the "sweet melodies and peppy dance collages of her earlier releases."[186]

On the 2001 album Vespertine, Björk continued with her idiosyncratic general meshing of organic and synthetic textures, once again via the combination of electronic sounds and string arrangements.[187] However, Vespertine differed from Homogenic in its greater interest in intimacy and sexuality (the result of her new relationship with artist Matthew Barney),[1][188][189] with sharper melodies, minimalistic production and explicit lyrics inspired by poetry of E. E. Cummings and Sarah Kane's play Crave.[187][190] Vespertine is also characterised by a newfound obsession with the auditory of analog technology, with a prevalent usage of loops, static and white noise, paradoxically contrasting the advancement of digital technology occurring in the 21st century;[191] thus, elements of glitch music have been identified.[192][193] Unlike previous albums like Debut and Post, electronic sounds has gained more prevalence, while the acoustic sounds are used as interjections.[191] Björk also stepped away from her signature shrieking singing style; 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 lyrics that have grown to be more intimate.[194]

Björk's 2004 studio album, Medúlla, is almost entirely constructed with human vocals,[1] with a vast scope of influences ranging from elements of folk to medieval music.[195] Wondering Sound wrote that despite "its comparative starkness, [Medúlla is] every bit as sensual as [Vespertine]."[187] The publication also added: "The electronic treatments range from industrial distortion to percussive glitches and dreamy layering, rarely descending into novelty."[187] The album combines beatboxing, classical choirs that suggest composers like Penderecki or Arvo Pärt, and "mews, moans, counterpoint and guttural grunts" provided by Björk and guests like Mike Patton, Robert Wyatt and Tanya Tagaq.[196] Medúlla includes "vocal fantasias" that lean toward chamber music, alongside tracks that "are obviously but distantly connected to hip-hop."[196] Glimpses of Bulgarian women's choirs, the polyphony of central African pygmies, and the "primal vocalisms" of Meredith Monk were also noted.[196]

Volta, released in 2007, received coverage after the inclusion of R&B producer Timbaland; however, NME wrote that "this is not Björk 'going hip-hop' or having a late-breaking pop reinvention."[197] It has been said that the album achieves the perfect balance between her vibrant, poppier works in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s.[198] Björk wanted the album's beats to be "effortless, primitive, lo-fi style", in contrast with Vespertine.[199] It combines a large brass ensemble with live and programmed drums and "ethnic instruments" like likembé, pipa and kora.[199] Volta alternates between potent, joyful songs, and moodier, more contemplative tracks, "all of which are tied together by found-sound and brass-driven interludes that give the impression that the album was recorded in a harbor".[198]

Biophilia, of 2011, showcases Björk's more avant-garde tendencies, drawing comparisons to Stockhausen and Nico's 1969 album, The Marble Index.[137][200] The track "Moon" mesmerisingly encapsulates the comprehensive progress made across her previous works with metaphorical lyrics of natural phenomena and their impact on humans.[201]

The music in Vulnicura, her 2015 album, is centered on Björk's voice, orchestral strings and electronic beats.[1][202] This combination was already present in Homogenic, certainly the consequence of the common topics treated by both albums: "heartbreak and perseverance".[1]

In 2017, Björk released Utopia, which harkened back to previous works such as Vespertine and Homogenic, combining organic and electronic elements. It has been referred to as Björk's flute album, akin to the heavy prevalence of Vespertine's celeste, Volta's brass, Medúlla's voices and Biophilia's choir.[203] Arca and Björk closely collaborated in the album's production, and more consistently than her work with the late Mark Bell. The Venezuelan producer also takes a lead role in production.[204]

In September 2022, Björk premiered the podcast Björk: Sonic Symbolism where she reviewed her sound experiences. Accompanied by some of her collaborators in a conversation about the moods, timbers and tempos through each of her ten albums.[205]

Influences

While Björk said that she was influenced by "Everything",[206] she has name-dropped Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Mark Bell as some of the people who influenced her the most.[207] Some "confessional singer-songwriters" Björk commends include Abida Parveen, Chaka Khan, Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush; with the latter being a definitive influence in her career.[158] Mitchell also inspired her to write her own songs, saying that Mitchell "created her own [female musical universe]", and found it "very liberating."[208] According to Pulse: "a lot of Björk's early influences were books (Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye, Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita) and films (Tampopo, Star Wars, The Tin Drum) available internationally. [...] But talk about Iceland and you're getting to the heart of the matter, the source of her spirited outlook on life."[209]

During her formative years at music school, Björk became interested in avant-garde, classical, and minimalistic music;[137][210] also becoming a "jazz freak".[211] Although her music is more consistently tonal and has more crossover appeal, she is considered indebted to avant-garde composers Karlheinz Stockhausen, Meredith Monk, Sun Ra and Philip Glass.[153][212] In a 2008 article for The Guardian, Björk considered Stockhausen as the root of electronic music, writing "he sparked off a sun that is still burning and will glow for a long time."[213] Early in her career, Björk cited Sir David Attenborough as her biggest musical influence, saying "she identified with his thirst for exploring new and wild territories."[214] She also stated that she "[likes] to discover sounds I had never heard before."[215]

Voice

Björk is a soprano, with a range spanning from E3 to D6.[216][217][218][219] Her singing voice has been described as both "elastic" and "somersaulting" in quality as well as being praised for her scatting ability, unique vocal stylings and delivery.[220] In a review for her live performance at the 2011 Manchester International Festival, Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph commented, "the 45-year-old still uses electronic dance beats with a full-blooded raver's passion and the elemental timbre of her voice has grown more powerful with age".[221]

In late 2012, it was reported that Björk had undergone surgery for a polyp on her vocal cords. Commenting on the success of the procedure after years of maintaining a strict diet and using vocal exercises to prevent vocal injury, she "stayed quiet for three weeks and then started singing and definitely feel like my cords are as good as pre-nodule".[222] However, in a review for Biophilia, Kitty Empire of The Guardian stated that pre-surgery Björk still sounded strong, commenting that her voice was "spectacular and swooping", particularly on the song "Thunderbolt".[223]

In a similar vein, Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine adds that her voice has been "preserved quite well"; however also noting that her voice has become too hoarse and shouty, adding "it's only where her most dramatic vocal pyrotechnics are concerned that there's any question of physical ability".[224] National Public Radio counted Björk among its list of "50 Great Voices" and MTV placed her at number 8 on its countdown "22 Greatest Voices in Music." She has been ranked 60th as one of the 100 greatest singers ever, and 81st as one of the 100 greatest songwriters ever by Rolling Stone, who praised her voice as being unique, fresh and extremely versatile, fitting and being influenced by a wide range of influences and genres.[225][226][227]

Personal life

When forming the Sugarcubes, Björk had a brief marriage with guitarist Þór Eldon. They had a son, Sindri Eldon Þórsson, born 8 June 1986, the same day that the band was formed.[23] They had divorced before the end of 1986, but continued to work together in the band.[228] Björk told Rolling Stone magazine that she likely falls on the autism spectrum.[229]

Move to London and Spain

Following the breakup of the Sugarcubes, Björk moved to London, where she was immediately offered a record deal. She became engaged to London-based DJ Goldie,[230] but broke up with him in 1996.[231] She also had a brief relationship with musician Tricky in the 1990s.[232] During this period, she became involved with the trip hop scene with which Goldie and Tricky were associated. Björk also began her work with fashion designer Alexander McQueen. As a result of her time spent in London, Björk developed a cockney accent, evident in her interviews given in English at the time.[233]

In London, Björk grew tired of public life and the constant harassment from the paparazzi, in particular over a murder attempt by a stalker, Ricardo López, and her relationships with Tricky and Goldie. She moved to Spain after receiving an offer to stay there from Trevor Morais, her tour drummer, who had a residential studio at Marbella, Andalusia,[234] where she produced Homogenic (1997).

Paparazzi confrontations

In February 1996, Björk arrived at Bangkok International Airport with her son Sindri after a long-haul flight. Reporters were present, despite Björk's early request that the press leave her and her son alone until a press conference. As Björk attempted to walk away from the paparazzi, television reporter Julie Kaufman approached Sindri and said, "Welcome to Bangkok!" In response, Björk lunged at Kaufman, knocking her to the ground and banging her head against the concrete floor until security intervened. Björk later apologised to Kaufman, who declined to press charges.[36]

On 13 January 2008, Björk attacked a photographer who had photographed her arrival at Auckland International Airport for her scheduled performance at the Big Day Out festival.[235] Björk allegedly tore the photographer's shirt down the back, and in the process she fell to the ground.[236] Neither the photographer nor his employer, The New Zealand Herald, lodged a formal complaint, and Auckland police did not investigate further.[237]

Ricardo López

On 12 September 1996, Ricardo López, a mentally ill, obsessed American fan of Björk, mailed a letter bomb loaded with sulfuric acid to Björk's London home, before returning home and filming his suicide in the final part of a disturbing video diary.[35]

In her few public comments on this event, Björk said she was "very distressed" by the incident,[38] and said, "I make music, but in other terms, you know, people shouldn't take me too literally and get involved in my personal life."[39] She sent a card and flowers to López's family.[238] She left for Spain, where she recorded the remainder of her third album, Homogenic, away from media attention.[239] She also hired security for her son, Sindri, who was escorted to school with a minder.[240] A year after López's death, Björk discussed the incident in an interview: "I was very upset that somebody had died. I couldn't sleep for a week. And I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare the fuck out of me. That I could get hurt and, most of all, that my son could get hurt."[241] López subsequently became known in the press as the "Björk Stalker".

Matthew Barney

In the late 1990s, Björk lived in New York, where she met artist Matthew Barney in the art scene. The pair formed a relationship and started living together, moving to Brooklyn Heights in 2000.[242] Their daughter Isadora Barney was born in 2002. Barney and Björk initially kept their work separate, but then collaborated on Barney's art film Drawing Restraint 9, a long-term project released in 2005; Björk acted in the film and also contributed musical elements.[243] The couple broke up in 2013. At the time, she described the breakup as "the most painful thing" that she had ever experienced. The album Vulnicura, and in particular the track "Black Lake", were written about the breakup.[244] Björk began to reside half of each year in Brooklyn Heights and the other half in two residences in Iceland with her daughter.[245][246]

Other ventures

Charitable work

After the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia in late 2004, Björk began work on a new project titled Army of Me: Remixes and Covers to help raise money for a relief fund. This project recruited fans and musicians from around the world to either cover or remix the 1995 track "Army of Me." From over 600 responses, Björk and her co-writer Graham Massey picked the best 20 versions to appear on the album. The album was released in April in the UK and in late May 2005 in the US. By January 2006, the album had raised about £250,000 to help UNICEF's work in the southeast Asian region.[247] Björk visited Banda Aceh in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami.[248]

On 2 July 2005, Björk took part in the Live 8 series of concerts, headlining the Japan show with Do As Infinity, Good Charlotte and McFly. She performed eight songs with Matmos, a Japanese string octet, and Zeena Parkins.[249][250]

Political activity

Björk's years in Kukl aligned her with the anarchist Crass Collective.[251] While she has since been hesitant to be seen as an overtly political figure, and has said so on her website,[252] she is supportive of numerous liberation movements, including independence for Kosovo.[253]

She dedicated her song "Declare Independence" to Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which caused a minor controversy in the Faroes. After Björk twice dedicated "Declare Independence" to the people of Kosovo during a concert in Japan,[254] her upcoming performance at Serbia's Exit Festival was cancelled, reportedly for safety concerns. In 2008, Björk created international controversy after she dedicated "Declare Independence" to the International Tibet Independence Movement during a Shanghai concert, chanting "Tibet! Tibet!" during the song. China's Ministry of Culture issued a denunciation through state news agency Xinhua, stating that Björk "broke Chinese law" and "hurt Chinese people's feelings" and pledged to further tighten control over foreign artists performing in China. A later statement accused Björk of "whipping up ethnic hatred."[255] In 2014, Björk created a Facebook post dedicating the song to the people of Scotland as they neared the referendum on their independence.[256] In October 2017, she posted a tweet dedicating the song to Catalonia on the occasion of the Catalan independence referendum.[257]

Björk has also taken an interest in environmental issues in Iceland. In 2004, she took part in the Hætta concert in Reykjavík, organised in protest against the building of Alcoa aluminium smelters in the country, which would make Iceland the biggest smelter in Europe.[258][259] She founded the organisation Náttúra, which aims to promote Icelandic nature and grassroots industries.[260] In October 2008, Björk wrote an article for The Times about the Icelandic economy and provided her opinion on the proposed use of natural resources to rescue the country from debt.[261] In collaboration with Audur Capital, she set up a venture capital fund titled BJÖRK to support the creation of sustainable industries in Iceland.[262]

Björk wrote the foreword to the English translation of the Icelandic bestseller by Andri Snær Magnason titled "Dreamland."

On 21 May 2010, Björk wrote an open letter in The Reykjavík Grapevine calling on the Icelandic government to "do everything in its power to revoke the contracts with Magma Energy," the Canadian company that owns Icelandic geothermal company HS Orka.[263][264]

In 2014, Björk helped to organise Stopp, Let's Protect the Park, an event organised to raise money and awareness for the preservation of Icelandic nature. This included a show at Harpa Concert Hall, at which she performed three songs. The concert initially raised $310,000[265] and went on to raise £3 million overall, with plans to use the money to establish a national park.[266]

Protégés

Over her extensive career, Björk has frequently used her position and influence to help launch new acts or mentor them as they establish themselves as recording artists.

The first example was the Iranian-born electronica producer Leila Arab, who was initially recruited to play keyboards and provide backing vocals on Björk's first international solo tour in 1993 in support of Debut. In 1995, Björk recalled Arab for her second touring band for tour in support of Post. This time, Arab was given her first opportunity to experiment with live output mixing from the stage rather than playing keyboards. This would later form the basis of Arab's own solo music career, in which she has integrated live mixing into her own compositions and live shows. Arab went on to release three international solo albums throughout the 1990s and appears on the influential electronica labels Rephlex Records, XL Recordings and Warp Records.[267]

In 1998, Björk established her own short-lived record label, Ear Records, which operated under the One Little Indian Records umbrella. Her only signee that received a release was her longtime friend Magga Stína, who recorded her debut solo album under the production of Björk's longtime collaborator Graham Massey (of the British electronica act 808 State). The album was simply titled An Album and featured just one single release, "Naturally." In 1998, Björk invited Magga to perform as her support act on the Homogenic Tour, and in 2004 Magga contributed to the production of Medúlla. Magga still performs and records in Iceland.

In 2001, Björk became aware of Canadian Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and invited her to perform on several dates of Björk's Vespertine World Tour as a special guest. In 2004, Tagaq was invited to collaborate on the a cappella album Medúlla, in which the duet "Ancestors" was recorded. "Ancestors" was later featured on Tagaq's first solo album, Sinaa, in 2005.

In 2004, Arab discovered the work of Finnish multimedia artist Heidi Kilpeläinen, who had taken her combination of lo-fi, homemade electro pop with her own self-produced music videos and combined them under the alter ego character HK119. Leila soon referred HK119's work to Björk, who started mentioning HK119 in various press and interviews. In 2004, Arab announced HK119 as her favourite act of 2004. HK119 was soon signed to Björk's parent label One Little Indian Records, which released her debut album in 2006. HK119 and Björk appeared in a joint interview in Dazed & Confused magazine in 2006, in which Björk stated about HK119's work: "It's unique. Even if I gave you $3 million, you couldn't improve on it... [Its] simplicity is [its] strength."[268] HK119 later released her albums Fast, Cheap and Out of Control in 2008 and Imaginature in 2013, both on One Little Indian Records.

In 2009, Björk used her website and various radio interviews to promote two more new acts. The first was fellow Icelandic musician Ólöf Arnalds, who is also a member of the Icelandic folktronica band múm. In 2006, Arnalds released her debut solo album Við Og Við in Iceland. Björk mentioned Arnalds among her favourite recent new acts during a radio interview, and encouraged One Little Indian Records to reissue the album in the UK and Europe in 2009. Björk also praised the works of English artist Micachu and Syrian vocalist Omar Souleyman. She later used her website to host the premiere of Micachu's debut video for Rough Trade Records, "Turn Me Well".[269]

Discography

Main articles: Björk discography, List of songs recorded by Björk, and Björk videography

Filmography

Main article: Björk videography § Filmography

Tours

Main article: List of Björk concert tours

Bibliography

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Björk

On 26 April 1997, Björk received the award of the Order of the Falcon.[270]

See also

References

Citations

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Book sources

Further reading

  • Björk – The Illustrated Story, by Paul Lester. Hamlyn (1996).
  • Björk – An Illustrated Biography, by Mick St. Michael. Omnibus Press (1996).
  • Björk Björkgraphy, by Martin Aston. Simon & Schuster (1996).
  • Björk, Colección Imágenes de Rock, N°82, by Jordi Bianciotto. Editorial La Máscara (1997).
  • Dancer in the Dark, by Lars von Trier. Film Four (2000).
  • Lobster or Fame, by Ólafur Jóhann Engilbertsson. Bad Taste (2000).
  • Army of She: Icelandic, Iconoclastic, Irrepressible Björk, by Evelyn McDonnell. Random House (2001).
  • Human Behaviour, by Ian Gittins. Carlton (2002).
  • Björk: There's More to Life Than This: The Stories Behind Every Song, by Ian Gittins. Imprint (2002).
  • Björk, by Nicola Dibben. Equinox (2009).

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Björk.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Björk.
  • Official website  
  • Björk discography at Discogs  
  • Björk at IMDb

March 20, 2023
björk, this, article, about, singer, self, titled, album, album, other, uses, disambiguation, this, icelandic, name, last, name, patronymic, family, name, this, person, referred, given, name, guðmundsdóttir, ɜːr, byurk, icelandic, pjœr, ˈkvʏðmʏntsˌtouhtɪr, lis. This article is about the singer For her self titled album see Bjork album For other uses see Bjork disambiguation This is an Icelandic name The last name is patronymic not a family name this person is referred to by the given name Bjork Bjork Gudmundsdottir OTF b j ɜːr k BYURK Icelandic pjœr k ˈkvʏdmʏntsˌtouhtɪr listen born 21 November 1965 is an Icelandic singer songwriter composer record producer and actress Noted for her distinct three octave vocal range and eccentric persona she has developed an eclectic musical style over her four decade career that has drawn on electronic pop experimental trip hop classical and avant garde music BjorkOTFBjork performing in Paris during her Bjork Orkestral show in June 2022BornBjork Gudmundsdottir 1965 11 21 21 November 1965 age 57 Reykjavik IcelandOccupationsSingersongwritercomposerrecord produceractressYears active1975 presentNotable workDiscographysongs recordedvideographyconcert toursSpouseTHor Eldon m 1986 div 1987 wbr Partner s Matthew Barney 2000 2013 1 Children2ParentGudmundur Gunnarsson father AwardsFull listMusical careerGenresArt pop avant garde electronica experimentalInstrumentsVocalsflutepianoLabelsOne Little Independent Polydor Universal Elektra Atlantic Nonesuch Megaforce REDFormerly ofThe Sugarcubes Kukl Tappi Tikarrass Bjork Gudmundsdottir amp trio Gudmundar IngolfssonarWebsitebjork wbr comSignatureBorn and raised in Reykjavik Bjork 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 the age of 21 2 After the Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992 Bjork began a solo career She came to prominence with albums such as Debut 1993 Post 1995 and Homogenic 1997 collaborating with a range of artists and exploring a variety of multimedia projects Her other albums include Vespertine 2001 Medulla 2004 Volta 2007 Biophilia 2011 Vulnicura 2015 Utopia 2017 and Fossora 2022 Several of Bjork s albums have reached the top 20 on the US Billboard 200 chart As of 2015 update she had sold more than 20 million records worldwide 3 4 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 5 6 Her accolades and awards include the Order of the Falcon five BRIT Awards and 15 Grammy nominations In 2015 Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world 7 8 Rolling Stone named her the 60th greatest singer and the 81st greatest songwriter Bjork 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 9 and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for I ve Seen It All Biophilia was marketed as an interactive app album with its own education program Bjork has also been an advocate for environmental causes in Iceland A retrospective exhibition dedicated to Bjork was held at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2015 10 Contents 1 Life and career 1 1 1965 1984 Early life and career beginnings 1 2 1985 1992 The Sugarcubes marriage and motherhood 1 3 1993 1996 Debut and Post 1 4 1997 2000 Homogenic and Dancer in the Dark 1 5 2001 2003 Vespertine and Greatest Hits 1 6 2004 2006 Medulla and Drawing Restraint 9 1 7 2007 2010 Volta 1 8 2011 2016 Biophilia and Vulnicura 1 9 2017 present Utopia and Fossora 2 Artistry 2 1 Style 2 2 Evolution 2 3 Influences 2 4 Voice 3 Personal life 3 1 Move to London and Spain 3 2 Paparazzi confrontations 3 3 Ricardo Lopez 3 4 Matthew Barney 4 Other ventures 4 1 Charitable work 4 2 Political activity 4 3 Proteges 5 Discography 6 Filmography 7 Tours 8 Bibliography 9 Awards and nominations 10 See also 11 References 11 1 Citations 11 2 Book sources 12 Further reading 13 External linksLife and career Edit1965 1984 Early life and career beginnings Edit Bjork was born on 21 November 1965 in Reykjavik 11 where she grew up Her mother was activist Hildur Runa Hauksdottir 7 October 1946 25 October 2018 12 who protested against the development of Iceland s Karahnjukar Hydropower Plant 13 Her father is Gudmundur Gunnarsson a union leader and electrician They divorced when Bjork was born and she moved with her mother to a commune 14 15 Her stepfather is Saevar Arnason a former guitarist in the band Pops 15 At six Bjork enrolled at Reykjavik school Barnamusikskoli where she studied classical piano and flute 11 After a school recital in which Bjork sang Tina Charles s 1976 hit I Love to Love her teachers sent a recording of her singing the song to the RUV radio station which was then Iceland s only radio station The recording was nationally broadcast and after hearing it a representative of the Falkinn record label offered Bjork a recording contract Her debut Bjork was recorded when she was 11 years old and was released in Iceland in December 1977 16 During her teens after the diffusion of punk rock music in Iceland Bjork 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 11 In 1982 she and bassist Jakob Magnusson formed another group Tappi Tikarrass Cork the Bitch s Ass in Icelandic and released EP Bitid fast i vitid Bite Hard Into Hell in Icelandic in August 1982 Their album Miranda was released in December 1983 The group was featured in the documentary Rokk i Reykjavik with Bjork being featured on the cover of the VHS release 11 17 Around this time Bjork met guitarist THor Eldon and surrealist group Medusa which also included poet Sjon with whom she started a lifelong collaboration and formed a group Rokka Rokka Drum 18 She described her time as part of Medusa as a gorgeous D I Y organic university extreme fertility 19 Bjork appeared as a featured artist on Afi a track from the Bjorgvin Gislason 1983 record Orugglega 15 Due to the imminent discontinuance of radio show Afangar two radio personalities Asmundur Jonsson and Gudni Runar requested musicians to play on a last live radio show Bjork joined with Einar Melax from the group Fan Houtens Koko Einar Orn Benediktsson from Purrkur Pillnikk Gudlaugur Kristinn ottarsson and Sigtryggur Baldursson from THeyr and Birgir Mogensen from Spilafifl to perform in the concert 20 The group developed a gothic rock sound During this experience Bjork began to develop her vocalisation punctuated by howls and shrieks 11 The project performed as Gott kvold during the concert When they later decided to keep playing together as a group they used the name Kukl Sorcery in Icelandic 20 Bjork s acquaintance gave the group their studio to record in and released their first single in 1983 20 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 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 14 20 During this period Bjork published a hand coloured book of poems Um Urnat fra Bjork was distributed in 1984 11 1985 1992 The Sugarcubes marriage and motherhood Edit Main article The Sugarcubes Kukl s second album Holidays in Europe The Naughty Nought came out in 1986 The band split up due to personal conflict with Bjork keeping a collaboration with Gudlaugur which was named the Elgar Sisters Some of the songs they recorded ended up as B sides to Bjork solo singles 11 21 Bjork performing in Japan with the Sugarcubes in 1992 Bjork 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 Bjork played the role of Margit a girl whose mother has been killed for practising witchcraft 11 That summer former band member Einar Orn and Eldon formed the arts collective Smekkleysa Bad Taste in Icelandic created with the intention of being both a record label and book publishing company 11 21 Various friends namely Melax and Sigtryggur from Kukl along with Bragi olafsson and Fridrik Erlingson from Purrkur Pillnikk joined the group and a band coalesced in the collective solely to make money 21 They were initially called THukl but they were advertised as Kukl the name of the previous band At a later concert supporting Icelandic band Studmenn they referred to themselves as Sykurmolarnir Sugarcubes in Icelandic Their first double A side single Einn mol a mann which contained the songs Ammaeli Birthday and Kottur Cat was released on 21 November 1986 Bjork s 21st birthday 21 At the end of that year the Sugarcubes signed with One Little Indian 21 Their first English single Birthday was released in the United Kingdom on 17 August 1987 a week later it was declared single of the week by Melody Maker 21 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 22 After the release of the album Eldon and Bjork divorced soon after the birth of their child despite being in the same group 23 The album went on to sell more than one million copies worldwide 22 Bjork contributed as a background vocalist on 1987 album Loftmynd by Megas for whom she provided background vocals also on his subsequent album Hofudlausnir 1988 and Haettuleg hljomsveit amp glaepakvendid Stella 1990 15 In the last quarter of 1988 the Sugarcubes toured North America to positive reception 22 On 15 October the band appeared on Saturday Night Live Bjork alone contributed a rendition of the Christmas song Jolakotturinn The Christmas Cat on the compilation Hvit Er Borg Og Baer 15 The band went on hiatus following the lack of reception of Here Today Tomorrow Next Week 1989 and a lengthy international tour 23 During this time Bjork started working on her solo projects In 1990 she provided background vocals on Gums by Bless 15 In the same year she recorded Gling Glo a collection of popular jazz and original work with the jazz group Trio Gudmundar Ingolfssonar which as of 2011 update was still her best selling album in her home country 11 22 Bjork 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 was released as a single in the UK in 1991 15 She also contributed vocals to the song Falling on the album Island by Current 93 and Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson 15 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 11 At this point Bjork had decided to leave the band to pursue her solo career but their contract included the making of one last album Stick Around for Joy 1992 with a subsequent promotional tour which she agreed to do 22 Bjork was featured on two tracks of the soundtrack for the 1992 film Remote Control known as Sodoma Reykjavik in Iceland 15 The Sugarcubes split up after they played one last show in Reykjavik 22 Rolling Stone called them the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland 24 1993 1996 Debut and Post Edit Bjork moved to London to pursue a solo career She began working with producer Nellee Hooper who had produced Massive Attack among others Their partnership produced Bjork s first international solo hit Human Behaviour a dance track based on a guitar rhythm sampled from Antonio 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 a frequent collaborator for Bjork 25 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 26 Debut was the leap Bjork 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 a mix of songs Bjork 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 Bjork covered the jazz standard Like Someone in Love to the accompaniment of a harp and the final track The Anchor Song was sung with only a saxophone ensemble for accompaniment At the 1994 Brit Awards Bjork won the awards for Best International Female and Best International Newcomer 27 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 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 Bjork also had an uncredited role as a runway model in the 1994 film Pret a Porter Post was Bjork s second solo studio album Released in June 1995 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 Bjork 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 Bjork to create material like 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 28 29 Post and Homogenic were placed back to back on Pitchfork Media s Top Albums of the 90s list at numbers 21 and 20 respectively 30 31 In 2003 the album was ranked number 373 on Rolling Stone magazine s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time 32 During this period the press exalted Bjork s eccentricity by creating a pixie persona around her 33 a descriptor she later confronted with her following albums 34 Although Bjork 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 26 Bjork also contributed to the 1995 Hector Zazou collaborative album Chansons des mers froides singing the traditional Icelandic song Visur Vatnsenda Rosu On 12 September 1996 disturbed fan Ricardo Lopez mailed a letter bomb loaded with sulphuric acid to Bjork s London home before filming his suicide 35 The package was intercepted by the Metropolitan Police Service 35 36 37 In her few public comments on this event Bjork said she was very distressed by the incident 38 and I make music but in other terms you know people shouldn t take me too literally and get involved in my personal life 39 1997 2000 Homogenic and Dancer in the Dark Edit Bjork performing during the Homogenic Tour in 1997 Bjork left London for Spain where she recorded the album Homogenic 40 released in 1997 Bjork worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B as well as Eumir Deodato numerous remixes followed Homogenic is regarded as one of Bjork s most experimental and extroverted works with enormous beats that reflect the landscape of Iceland most notably in the song Joga which fuses lush strings with rocky electronic crunches The album was certified gold in the US in 2001 26 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 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 Bjork 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 40 In 1999 Bjork was asked to write and produce the musical score for 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 41 Eventually she accepted Filming began in early 1999 and the film debuted in 2000 at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival The film received the Palme d Or and Bjork received the Best Actress Award for her role 9 It was reported that the shoot was so physically and emotionally tiring that she vowed never to act again 42 Bjork later stated that she always wanted to do one musical in her life and Dancer in the Dark was the one 43 The soundtrack Bjork created for 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 Bjork was wearing her celebrated swan dress 44 2001 2003 Vespertine and Greatest Hits Edit Bjork at the 2001 Academy Awards wearing her swan dress In 2001 Bjork released the album Vespertine It featured chamber orchestras choirs hushed vocals microbeats made from household sounds and personal vulnerable themes For 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 was published 45 Bjork 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 46 At the time Vespertine was Bjork s fastest selling album to date having sold two million copies by the end of 2001 47 Vespertine spawned three singles Hidden Place Pagan Poetry and Cocoon MTV2 played the album s first video Hidden Place which was subsequently released as a DVD single The next video for Pagan Poetry brought Bjork to an even higher level of controversy with the channel The video features graphic piercings Bjork s exposed nipples and simulated fellatio 48 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 a seemingly naked Bjork 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 49 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 the song was instead recorded by another Icelander Emiliana 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 the public The songs on the album were chosen by Bjork s fans through a poll on her website A DVD edition of the CD was also released It contained all of Bjork 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 5 The video directed by Spike Jonze features a heavily pregnant Bjork She gave birth to daughter Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney on 3 October 2002 50 Bjork and 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 Bjork 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 the four CDs was later released separately at a reduced price 2004 2006 Medulla and Drawing Restraint 9 Edit In August 2004 Bjork released Medulla During production Bjork 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 Bjork used 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 Medulla became her highest charting album in the US debuting at number 14 51 In August 2004 Bjork performed 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 m2 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 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 52 This was followed in early 2005 by Triumph of a Heart charting at number 31 53 A video for the potential next single Where Is the Line was filmed in collaboration with the Icelandic artist Gabriela Fridriksdottir in late 2004 This was initially a sequence from an art installation movie of the artists but was released exclusively on the Medulla Videos DVD as an official promo for the track Bjork DJing off her laptop in 2006 In 2005 Bjork collaborated with partner Matthew Barney on the experimental art film Drawing Restraint 9 a dialogueless exploration of Japanese culture Bjork and Barney both appear in 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 Bjork 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 Tikarrass and an ongoing conversation with Bjork herself During this era Bjork earned another BRIT Awards nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist 54 She 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 Medulla 55 In 2006 Bjork 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 Medulla were already available in 5 1 as either DVD A or SACD but are also included in the box set in repackaged format The DualDiscs were also released separately 56 Bjork s former band the Sugarcubes reunited for a one night only concert in Reykjavik on 17 November 2006 Profits from the concert were donated to the Sugarcubes former label Smekkleysa who according to Bjork s press statement continue to work on a non profit basis for the future betterment of Icelandic music 57 2007 2010 Volta Edit Bjork contributed a cover of Joni Mitchell s song The Boho Dance to the album A Tribute to Joni Mitchell 2007 58 Director and previous collaborator Michel Gondry asked Bjork to star in his film The Science of Sleep but she declined The role was played by Charlotte Gainsbourg instead 59 Bjork starred in Gunar Karlsson s 2007 animated film Anna and the Moods along with Terry Jones and Damon Albarn Bjork performing at the Big Day Out festival in Melbourne 2008 Bjork s sixth full length studio album Volta was released on 7 May 2007 It features 10 tracks The album features input from hip hop producer Timbaland singer Anohni poet Sjon electronic beat programmer Mark Bell kora master Toumani Diabate 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 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 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 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 60 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 Bjork then completed the 18 month Volta Tour having performed at many festivals and returning to Latin America after nine years playing in Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo Curitiba Guadalajara Bogota 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 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 THorarinsdottir directed by Frank Cantor 61 Announced via an eBay auction a new Bjork track was revealed under the title Nattura Bjork commented the song was intended to encourage active support for a more environmental approach to Iceland s natural resources The song was initially labelled as a new single by Bjork with backing vocals from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke Bjork s official website later stated that the single would be released on 27 October 2008 through iTunes 62 but the track was eventually made available at nattura grapewire net exclusively 63 In a statement released by bjork com a limited edition box set titled Voltaic from One Little Indian Records 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 Reykjavik 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 Reykjavik the third disc contains The Volta Videos and the video competition while the fourth is The Volta Mixes CD 64 In May 2010 the Royal Swedish Academy of Music announced that Bjork was to receive the Polar Music Prize alongside Ennio Morricone 65 A month later Bjork along with Dirty Projectors announced that they would be collaborating on a joint EP titled Mount Wittenberg Orca which was released on 30 June to raise money for marine conservation 66 In September 2010 Bjork 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 olof Arnalds on a track called Surrender from Arnalds s new album Innundir skinni 67 and performed a duet with Anohni on the Antony and the Johnsons album Swanlights The song is titled Fletta 68 On 20 September 2010 Bjork 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 Bjork as the backing track of a short film made by Nick Knight titled To Lee with Love as a tribute to McQueen with whom Bjork collaborated on multiple occasions 2011 2016 Biophilia and Vulnicura Edit Bjork appeared on Atta Raddir one of Jonas Sen s TV shows The episode aired on 27 February 2011 69 The shows are produced by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service 70 In the show Bjork performed eight songs including Sun in My Mouth which had not previously been performed live Bjork performing at the Cirque en Chantier in Paris February 2013 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 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 71 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 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 72 Also in part of the project was Bjork s Biophilia education programme which consisted of workshops for school children aged 10 12 that explore the intersection of music and science The Reykjavik City Board of Education brought the programme to all schools in the city over the next three years 73 She released the 2012 remix album Bastards It featured remixes by Death Grips and Syrian musician Omar Souleyman 74 75 In 2013 Bjork featured in a Channel 4 documentary along with Sir David Attenborough called When Bjork Met Attenborough as part of their Mad4Music season of programmes Bjork and Attenborough discussed the human relationship with music focusing around Biophilia and also featuring scientist Oliver Sacks 76 In 2014 the apps were the first ever to be inducted into the Museum of Modern Art s permanent collection 72 In June Bjork recorded original vocal samples for Death Grips which they used on all 8 songs of Niggas on the Moon the first part of their double LP The Powers That B 77 In late 2014 a concert film Bjork Biophilia Live was released worldwide including in more than 400 cinemas 78 Bjork worked with producers Arca and the Haxan Cloak on her ninth studio album titled Vulnicura 79 On 18 January 2015 just days after being publicly announced and two months ahead of its scheduled release a supposed full version of the album leaked online 80 81 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 82 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 83 Its surprise release was positively compared to recent album releases from Madonna and Beyonce 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 84 Bjork 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 the ensemble Alarm Will Sound Arca on electronics on festival dates the Haxan Cloak took over and percussionist Manu Delago 85 After completing its New York residency the tour travelled to Europe before ending in August 2015 Bjork on stage at New York City Center April 2015 New York s MoMA hosted a retrospective exhibition from 8 March 7 June 2015 that chronicled Bjork s career from Debut to Biophilia however aspects of Vulnicura were included as well but not previously announced 86 The retrospective consisted of 4 parts 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 the walls and ceiling a Cinema room showcasing most of Bjork s music videos newly transferred in high definition and the Songlines walking exhibit which showcased Bjork s notebooks costumes and props from throughout her career A book entitled Bjork Archives documenting the content of the exhibition was published in March 87 In addition to the Black Lake video videos for Lionsong which played in 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 88 It 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 89 A week later Vulnicura Live 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 Bjork s recent career The CD was released on 13 November 2015 with the picture disc vinyls released a week later 90 On 7 December 2015 Vulnicura was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album 91 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 92 The performance of Come to Me from the album was also included in the box set 7 inches for Planned Parenthood in support of the women s health organization 93 94 Bjork launched Bjork 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 the opening night party 95 and did the same when the show traveled to Tokyo Japan on 29 June 96 showing at Miraikan During the Miraikan residency Bjork 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 Bjork Digital has travelled the world with stops in London Montreal Houston Los Angeles and Barcelona 2017 present Utopia and Fossora Edit On 2 August 2017 Bjork 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 Bjork talked about the new album 97 98 The lead single The Gate was released on 15 September 2017 99 Its accompanying video was directed by visual artist Andrew Thomas Huang 100 The same day of the single s release Bjork announced the album s title Utopia during an interview with Nowness 101 Utopia was released on 24 November 2017 102 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 103 104 Bjork added that her previous album was hell it was like divorce stating So we were doing paradise We have done hell we have earned some points 105 106 She produced the album with Arca whom she collaborated with on Vulnicura Bjork 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 Bjork 100 Three additional music videos were released in 2017 Blissing Me Utopia and Arisen My Senses with the former and latter also receiving limited edition remix EPs 107 108 109 Utopia was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards making Bjork s fifteenth nomination at the Grammys 110 Bjork performing at the Eden Project in 2018 On 22 May 2018 Bjork appeared as the headlining musical guest on Later with Jools Holland her first time on the BBC series since 2011 111 She sang a set of four songs including 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 112 113 114 On 12 November 2018 Bjork announced a new concert production centered around her Utopia album entitled Cornucopia Bjork described the show as one where the acoustic and digital will shake hands 115 116 Cornucopia opened in May 2019 at the newly built The Shed in New York and was described as Bjork s most elaborate staged concert to date 117 118 The residency show then traveled to Mexico and Europe for further dates in 2019 119 120 Following the performances Bjork released music videos for Tabula Rasa and Losss both directed by Tobias Gremmler and used as backdrop during the shows 121 122 On 16 August 2019 Bjork announced the Utopia Bird Call Boxset 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 123 124 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 Bjork s own remix of Fever Ray s 2017 song This Country were collected on Country Creatures 125 On 27 September 2019 Bjork made a surprise appearance during Mutant Faith Arca s performance art piece at The Shed to debut Afterwards a new collaboration which Bjork performed in a combination of Spanish and gibberish 126 The song is included on Arca s fourth studio album KiCk i which was released on June 26 2020 127 Bjork is currently set to embark on her eleventh concert tour called Bjork Orkestral in which she will perform orchestral arrangements of songs from her career so far 128 129 As part of the tour Bjork 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 130 Following the rescheduling Bjork 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 131 In August 2020 Bjork joined the cast of The Northman the third feature film by Robert Eggers co written with Sjon alongside her daughter Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney in her debut film role 132 133 It was released on April 22 2022 in the United States In an interview with The Mercury News published on 19 January 2022 Bjork mentioned that she was wrapping up work on her upcoming tenth studio album 134 She revealed in an interview with The Guardian published on 19 August 2022 that the new album is called Fossora a Latin word for digging 135 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 Bjork ventured into podcasting hosting Bjork Sonic Symbolism which according to a press release features her discussing the textures timbres and emotional landscapes of each of her albums with friends writer Oddny Eir and musicologist Asmundur Jonsson the first three episodes of the podcast covering Debut Post and Homogenic premiered on 1 September 136 Artistry EditThis section has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This section is missing information about Bjork s lyrics Please expand the section to include this information Further details may exist on the talk page December 2018 This section contains too many or overly lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry Please help improve the article by presenting facts as a neutrally worded summary with appropriate citations Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote or for entire works to Wikisource December 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Style Edit Over her three decade solo career Bjork has developed an eclectic and avant garde 137 138 musical style that incorporates aspects of electronic 137 139 140 141 dance 141 142 alternative dance 143 trip hop 144 experimental 1 145 146 glitch 138 jazz 138 147 alternative rock 148 149 instrumental 137 and contemporary classical music 140 146 Her music has since been subject to critical analysis and scrutiny as she consistently defies categorization in a musical genre 150 Although she often calls herself a pop artist 1 she is considered a restlessly experimental creative force 151 152 According to The New Yorker s Taylor Ho Bynum no contemporary artist so gracefully bridges the divide between music experimentalist and pop celebrity as Bjork 153 Her album Debut which incorporated electronic house jazz and trip hop has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop 154 155 Her work has been described as frequently explor ing the relationship between nature and technology 156 Broadly summarizing her wide ranging integration of art and popular music Joshua Ostroff suggested that there is no better descriptor for what Bjork does than artpop 143 The NME also called her output a consistently progressive pop agenda 157 Bjork s work 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 Bjork attributes to her being a female artist 158 Evolution Edit Human Behaviour source source track Human Behaviour the lead single from Debut 1993 An underground dance hit it showcases Bjork s interest in house music early in her solo career evident in its four on the floor rhythm pattern Problems playing this file See media help During her career beginnings Bjork performed in bands from various musical genres punk rock in Spit and Snot jazz fusion in Exodus post punk in Tappi Tikarrass and Gothic rock in Kukl 11 When working with Tappi Tikarrass she was heavily influenced by British new wave bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees 159 Wire the Passions the Slits Joy Division 160 and Killing Joke 161 The studio album Gling Glo 1990 was recorded with Trio Gudmundar Ingolfssonar and featured jazz and popular standards sung very much in the classic Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan mould 162 The Sugarcubes style has been described as avant pop 139 and alternative rock 163 Although Bjork was in various post punk and alternative rock bands during the late 1980s her contact with London s underground club culture helped her find her own musical identity 164 Debut released in 1993 has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop 165 166 Being a fan of dance music since the early days of acid house Bjork used dance music as the framework for her songs in Debut stating in 1993 that it was the only pop music that is truly modern and place where anything creative is happening today 167 However in a Rolling Stone interview she also stated that she was more influenced by the sensual and groundbreaking ambient music formerly found in Chicago and Detroit 168 The music of Debut reflects the contemporary musical environment of London where Bjork lived in the early 1990s especially the burgeoning trip hop scene of bands like Portishead and Massive Attack 169 Michael Cragg of The Guardian has described it as an indefinable conflation of electronic pop trip hop world music and otherworldly lyrics 170 while The Face s Mandi James said it was a delightful fusion of thrash metal jazz funk and opera with the odd dash of exotica thrown in for good measure 171 The 1995 album Post known for its eclecticism 172 is considered to be the quintessential Bjork release due to its protean form more than any of her albums and its wide emotional palette 173 The entirety of the album was written after Bjork s move to England and intended to reflect the faster pace of her new urban life 174 The Guardian wrote that Post tapped into the vortex of multicultural energy that was mid 90s London where she had relocated and where strange hybrids such as jungle and trip hop were bubbling 175 Post built on the dance pop blueprint of Debut but pushed its production and beats to the fore with influences from all over the world 176 While the distant echoes of IDM and trip hop were present in Debut Post is characterised by Bjork s fuller incorporation of these styles 166 Referred to as a genre roulette by the San Francisco Chronicle 177 it touches on various musical styles including industrial music 178 big band jazz trip hop chillout 178 and experimental music 179 The balance between synthetic and organic elements in the album generated through the combination of electronic and real instruments is a recurring characteristic in Bjork s output 180 181 Mark Bell contributed to much of Bjork s material including his co production of Homogenic until his death in 2014 With her 1997 album Homogenic Bjork intended to make a simple one flavoured record in contrast with her previous releases 182 Conceptually focused on her native Iceland 182 the album is a fusion of chilly strings courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet stuttering abstract beats and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica 183 184 Bjork incorporated a traditional singing method used by Icelandic choir men a combination of speaking and singing as illustrated in the song Unravel 185 While Homogenic still showed Bjork s inclination towards electronic dance music and techno futurism Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone reflected on how the album was has steered away from the sweet melodies and peppy dance collages of her earlier releases 186 On the 2001 album Vespertine Bjork continued with her idiosyncratic general meshing of organic and synthetic textures once again via the combination of electronic sounds and string arrangements 187 However Vespertine differed from Homogenic in its greater interest in intimacy and sexuality the result of her new relationship with artist Matthew Barney 1 188 189 with sharper melodies minimalistic production and explicit lyrics inspired by poetry of E E Cummings and Sarah Kane s play Crave 187 190 Vespertine is also characterised by a newfound obsession with the auditory of analog technology with a prevalent usage of loops static and white noise paradoxically contrasting the advancement of digital technology occurring in the 21st century 191 thus elements of glitch music have been identified 192 193 Unlike previous albums like Debut and Post electronic sounds has gained more prevalence while the acoustic sounds are used as interjections 191 Bjork also stepped away from her signature shrieking singing style 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 lyrics that have grown to be more intimate 194 Bjork s 2004 studio album Medulla is almost entirely constructed with human vocals 1 with a vast scope of influences ranging from elements of folk to medieval music 195 Wondering Sound wrote that despite its comparative starkness Medulla is every bit as sensual as Vespertine 187 The publication also added The electronic treatments range from industrial distortion to percussive glitches and dreamy layering rarely descending into novelty 187 The album combines beatboxing classical choirs that suggest composers like Penderecki or Arvo Part and mews moans counterpoint and guttural grunts provided by Bjork and guests like Mike Patton Robert Wyatt and Tanya Tagaq 196 Medulla includes vocal fantasias that lean toward chamber music alongside tracks that are obviously but distantly connected to hip hop 196 Glimpses of Bulgarian women s choirs the polyphony of central African pygmies and the primal vocalisms of Meredith Monk were also noted 196 Volta released in 2007 received coverage after the inclusion of R amp B producer Timbaland however NME wrote that this is not Bjork going hip hop or having a late breaking pop reinvention 197 It has been said that the album achieves the perfect balance between her vibrant poppier works in the 90s and her experiments in the 2000s 198 Bjork wanted the album s beats to be effortless primitive lo fi style in contrast with Vespertine 199 It combines a large brass ensemble with live and programmed drums and ethnic instruments like likembe pipa and kora 199 Volta alternates between potent joyful songs and moodier more contemplative tracks all of which are tied together by found sound and brass driven interludes that give the impression that the album was recorded in a harbor 198 Biophilia of 2011 showcases Bjork s more avant garde tendencies drawing comparisons to Stockhausen and Nico s 1969 album The Marble Index 137 200 The track Moon mesmerisingly encapsulates the comprehensive progress made across her previous works with metaphorical lyrics of natural phenomena and their impact on humans 201 The music in Vulnicura her 2015 album is centered on Bjork s voice orchestral strings and electronic beats 1 202 This combination was already present in Homogenic certainly the consequence of the common topics treated by both albums heartbreak and perseverance 1 In 2017 Bjork released Utopia which harkened back to previous works such as Vespertine and Homogenic combining organic and electronic elements It has been referred to as Bjork s flute album akin to the heavy prevalence of Vespertine s celeste Volta s brass Medulla s voices and Biophilia s choir 203 Arca and Bjork closely collaborated in the album s production and more consistently than her work with the late Mark Bell The Venezuelan producer also takes a lead role in production 204 In September 2022 Bjork premiered the podcast Bjork Sonic Symbolism where she reviewed her sound experiences Accompanied by some of her collaborators in a conversation about the moods timbers and tempos through each of her ten albums 205 Influences Edit While Bjork said that she was influenced by Everything 206 she has name dropped Stockhausen Kraftwerk Brian Eno and Mark Bell as some of the people who influenced her the most 207 Some confessional singer songwriters Bjork commends include Abida Parveen Chaka Khan Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush with the latter being a definitive influence in her career 158 Mitchell also inspired her to write her own songs saying that Mitchell created her own female musical universe and found it very liberating 208 According to Pulse a lot of Bjork s early influences were books Georges Bataille s Story of the Eye Mikhail Bulgakov s The Master and Margarita and films Tampopo Star Wars The Tin Drum available internationally But talk about Iceland and you re getting to the heart of the matter the source of her spirited outlook on life 209 During her formative years at music school Bjork became interested in avant garde classical and minimalistic music 137 210 also becoming a jazz freak 211 Although her music is more consistently tonal and has more crossover appeal she is considered indebted to avant garde composers Karlheinz Stockhausen Meredith Monk Sun Ra and Philip Glass 153 212 In a 2008 article for The Guardian Bjork considered Stockhausen as the root of electronic music writing he sparked off a sun that is still burning and will glow for a long time 213 Early in her career Bjork cited Sir David Attenborough as her biggest musical influence saying she identified with his thirst for exploring new and wild territories 214 She also stated that she likes to discover sounds I had never heard before 215 Voice Edit Bjork is a soprano with a range spanning from E3 to D6 216 217 218 219 Her singing voice has been described as both elastic and somersaulting in quality as well as being praised for her scatting ability unique vocal stylings and delivery 220 In a review for her live performance at the 2011 Manchester International Festival Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph commented the 45 year old still uses electronic dance beats with a full blooded raver s passion and the elemental timbre of her voice has grown more powerful with age 221 In late 2012 it was reported that Bjork had undergone surgery for a polyp on her vocal cords Commenting on the success of the procedure after years of maintaining a strict diet and using vocal exercises to prevent vocal injury she stayed quiet for three weeks and then started singing and definitely feel like my cords are as good as pre nodule 222 However in a review for Biophilia Kitty Empire of The Guardian stated that pre surgery Bjork still sounded strong commenting that her voice was spectacular and swooping particularly on the song Thunderbolt 223 In a similar vein Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine adds that her voice has been preserved quite well however also noting that her voice has become too hoarse and shouty adding it s only where her most dramatic vocal pyrotechnics are concerned that there s any question of physical ability 224 National Public Radio counted Bjork among its list of 50 Great Voices and MTV placed her at number 8 on its countdown 22 Greatest Voices in Music She has been ranked 60th as one of the 100 greatest singers ever and 81st as one of the 100 greatest songwriters ever by Rolling Stone who praised her voice as being unique fresh and extremely versatile fitting and being influenced by a wide range of influences and genres 225 226 227 Personal life EditWhen forming the Sugarcubes Bjork had a brief marriage with guitarist THor Eldon They had a son Sindri Eldon THorsson born 8 June 1986 the same day that the band was formed 23 They had divorced before the end of 1986 but continued to work together in the band 228 Bjork told Rolling Stone magazine that she likely falls on the autism spectrum 229 Move to London and Spain Edit Following the breakup of the Sugarcubes Bjork moved to London where she was immediately offered a record deal She became engaged to London based DJ Goldie 230 but broke up with him in 1996 231 She also had a brief relationship with musician Tricky in the 1990s 232 During this period she became involved with the trip hop scene with which Goldie and Tricky were associated Bjork also began her work with fashion designer Alexander McQueen As a result of her time spent in London Bjork developed a cockney accent evident in her interviews given in English at the time 233 In London Bjork grew tired of public life and the constant harassment from the paparazzi in particular over a murder attempt by a stalker Ricardo Lopez and her relationships with Tricky and Goldie She moved to Spain after receiving an offer to stay there from Trevor Morais her tour drummer who had a residential studio at Marbella Andalusia 234 where she produced Homogenic 1997 Paparazzi confrontations Edit In February 1996 Bjork arrived at Bangkok International Airport with her son Sindri after a long haul flight Reporters were present despite Bjork s early request that the press leave her and her son alone until a press conference As Bjork attempted to walk away from the paparazzi television reporter Julie Kaufman approached Sindri and said Welcome to Bangkok In response Bjork lunged at Kaufman knocking her to the ground and banging her head against the concrete floor until security intervened Bjork later apologised to Kaufman who declined to press charges 36 On 13 January 2008 Bjork attacked a photographer who had photographed her arrival at Auckland International Airport for her scheduled performance at the Big Day Out festival 235 Bjork allegedly tore the photographer s shirt down the back and in the process she fell to the ground 236 Neither the photographer nor his employer The New Zealand Herald lodged a formal complaint and Auckland police did not investigate further 237 Ricardo Lopez Edit On 12 September 1996 Ricardo Lopez a mentally ill obsessed American fan of Bjork mailed a letter bomb loaded with sulfuric acid to Bjork s London home before returning home and filming his suicide in the final part of a disturbing video diary 35 In her few public comments on this event Bjork said she was very distressed by the incident 38 and said I make music but in other terms you know people shouldn t take me too literally and get involved in my personal life 39 She sent a card and flowers to Lopez s family 238 She left for Spain where she recorded the remainder of her third album Homogenic away from media attention 239 She also hired security for her son Sindri who was escorted to school with a minder 240 A year after Lopez s death Bjork discussed the incident in an interview I was very upset that somebody had died I couldn t sleep for a week And I d be lying if I said it didn t scare the fuck out of me That I could get hurt and most of all that my son could get hurt 241 Lopez subsequently became known in the press as the Bjork Stalker Matthew Barney Edit In the late 1990s Bjork lived in New York where she met artist Matthew Barney in the art scene The pair formed a relationship and started living together moving to Brooklyn Heights in 2000 242 Their daughter Isadora Barney was born in 2002 Barney and Bjork initially kept their work separate but then collaborated on Barney s art film Drawing Restraint 9 a long term project released in 2005 Bjork acted in the film and also contributed musical elements 243 The couple broke up in 2013 At the time she described the breakup as the most painful thing that she had ever experienced The album Vulnicura and in particular the track Black Lake were written about the breakup 244 Bjork began to reside half of each year in Brooklyn Heights and the other half in two residences in Iceland with her daughter 245 246 Other ventures EditCharitable work Edit After the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia in late 2004 Bjork began work on a new project titled Army of Me Remixes and Covers to help raise money for a relief fund This project recruited fans and musicians from around the world to either cover or remix the 1995 track Army of Me From over 600 responses Bjork and her co writer Graham Massey picked the best 20 versions to appear on the album The album was released in April in the UK and in late May 2005 in the US By January 2006 the album had raised about 250 000 to help UNICEF s work in the southeast Asian region 247 Bjork visited Banda Aceh in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF s work with the children who were affected by the tsunami 248 On 2 July 2005 Bjork took part in the Live 8 series of concerts headlining the Japan show with Do As Infinity Good Charlotte and McFly She performed eight songs with Matmos a Japanese string octet and Zeena Parkins 249 250 Political activity Edit Bjork s years in Kukl aligned her with the anarchist Crass Collective 251 While she has since been hesitant to be seen as an overtly political figure and has said so on her website 252 she is supportive of numerous liberation movements including independence for Kosovo 253 She dedicated her song Declare Independence to Greenland and the Faroe Islands which caused a minor controversy in the Faroes After Bjork twice dedicated Declare Independence to the people of Kosovo during a concert in Japan 254 her upcoming performance at Serbia s Exit Festival was cancelled reportedly for safety concerns In 2008 Bjork created international controversy after she dedicated Declare Independence to the International Tibet Independence Movement during a Shanghai concert chanting Tibet Tibet during the song China s Ministry of Culture issued a denunciation through state news agency Xinhua stating that Bjork broke Chinese law and hurt Chinese people s feelings and pledged to further tighten control over foreign artists performing in China A later statement accused Bjork of whipping up ethnic hatred 255 In 2014 Bjork created a Facebook post dedicating the song to the people of Scotland as they neared the referendum on their independence 256 In October 2017 she posted a tweet dedicating the song to Catalonia on the occasion of the Catalan independence referendum 257 Bjork has also taken an interest in environmental issues in Iceland In 2004 she took part in the Haetta concert in Reykjavik organised in protest against the building of Alcoa aluminium smelters in the country which would make Iceland the biggest smelter in Europe 258 259 She founded the organisation Nattura which aims to promote Icelandic nature and grassroots industries 260 In October 2008 Bjork wrote an article for The Times about the Icelandic economy and provided her opinion on the proposed use of natural resources to rescue the country from debt 261 In collaboration with Audur Capital she set up a venture capital fund titled BJORK to support the creation of sustainable industries in Iceland 262 Bjork wrote the foreword to the English translation of the Icelandic bestseller by Andri Snaer Magnason titled Dreamland On 21 May 2010 Bjork wrote an open letter in The Reykjavik Grapevine calling on the Icelandic government to do everything in its power to revoke the contracts with Magma Energy the Canadian company that owns Icelandic geothermal company HS Orka 263 264 In 2014 Bjork helped to organise Stopp Let s Protect the Park an event organised to raise money and awareness for the preservation of Icelandic nature This included a show at Harpa Concert Hall at which she performed three songs The concert initially raised 310 000 265 and went on to raise 3 million overall with plans to use the money to establish a national park 266 Proteges Edit Over her extensive career Bjork has frequently used her position and influence to help launch new acts or mentor them as they establish themselves as recording artists The first example was the Iranian born electronica producer Leila Arab who was initially recruited to play keyboards and provide backing vocals on Bjork s first international solo tour in 1993 in support of Debut In 1995 Bjork recalled Arab for her second touring band for tour in support of Post This time Arab was given her first opportunity to experiment with live output mixing from the stage rather than playing keyboards This would later form the basis of Arab s own solo music career in which she has integrated live mixing into her own compositions and live shows Arab went on to release three international solo albums throughout the 1990s and appears on the influential electronica labels Rephlex Records XL Recordings and Warp Records 267 In 1998 Bjork established her own short lived record label Ear Records which operated under the One Little Indian Records umbrella Her only signee that received a release was her longtime friend Magga Stina who recorded her debut solo album under the production of Bjork s longtime collaborator Graham Massey of the British electronica act 808 State The album was simply titled An Album and featured just one single release Naturally In 1998 Bjork invited Magga to perform as her support act on the Homogenic Tour and in 2004 Magga contributed to the production of Medulla Magga still performs and records in Iceland In 2001 Bjork became aware of Canadian Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and invited her to perform on several dates of Bjork s Vespertine World Tour as a special guest In 2004 Tagaq was invited to collaborate on the a cappella album Medulla in which the duet Ancestors was recorded Ancestors was later featured on Tagaq s first solo album Sinaa in 2005 In 2004 Arab discovered the work of Finnish multimedia artist Heidi Kilpelainen who had taken her combination of lo fi homemade electro pop with her own self produced music videos and combined them under the alter ego character HK119 Leila soon referred HK119 s work to Bjork who started mentioning HK119 in various press and interviews In 2004 Arab announced HK119 as her favourite act of 2004 HK119 was soon signed to Bjork s parent label One Little Indian Records which released her debut album in 2006 HK119 and Bjork appeared in a joint interview in Dazed amp Confused magazine in 2006 in which Bjork stated about HK119 s work It s unique Even if I gave you 3 million you couldn t improve on it Its simplicity is its strength 268 HK119 later released her albums Fast Cheap and Out of Control in 2008 and Imaginature in 2013 both on One Little Indian Records In 2009 Bjork used her website and various radio interviews to promote two more new acts The first was fellow Icelandic musician olof Arnalds who is also a member of the Icelandic folktronica band mum In 2006 Arnalds released her debut solo album Vid Og Vid in Iceland Bjork mentioned Arnalds among her favourite recent new acts during a radio interview and encouraged One Little Indian Records to reissue the album in the UK and Europe in 2009 Bjork also praised the works of English artist Micachu and Syrian vocalist Omar Souleyman She later used her website to host the premiere of Micachu s debut video for Rough Trade Records Turn Me Well 269 Discography EditMain articles Bjork discography List of songs recorded by Bjork and Bjork videography Debut 1993 Post 1995 Homogenic 1997 Vespertine 2001 Medulla 2004 Volta 2007 Biophilia 2011 Vulnicura 2015 Utopia 2017 Fossora 2022 Filmography EditMain article Bjork videography Filmography The Juniper Tree 1990 Dancer in the Dark 2000 Drawing Restraint 9 2005 The Northman 2022 Tours EditMain article List of Bjork concert tours Debut Tour 1993 1994 Post Tour 1995 1997 Homogenic Tour 1997 1999 Vespertine World Tour 2001 Greatest Hits Tour 2003 Volta Tour 2007 2008 Biophilia Tour 2011 2013 Vulnicura Tour 2015 2017 Utopia Tour 2018 Cornucopia 2019 2023 Bjork Orkestral 2021 2023 Bibliography EditUm Urnat fra Bjork 1994 Post 1995 Bjork Bjork as a book 2001 Live Book 2003 Biophilia Manual Edition 2011 Biophilia Live 2012 Bjork Archives 2015 34 Scores for Piano Organ Harpsichord and Celeste 2017 Awards and nominations EditMain article List of awards and nominations received by Bjork On 26 April 1997 Bjork received the award of the Order of the Falcon 270 See also EditBjork Gudmundsdottir amp trio Gudmundar Ingolfssonar Kraumur a music fund of which Bjork is an advisory board member List of artists who reached number one on the U S dance chart List of number one dance hits United States List of trip hop artists Mononymous person Music of Iceland Vegvisir Bjork s largest tattoo located on her left arm List of Icelandic writersReferences EditCitations Edit a b c d e f 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Retrieved 23 December 2015 Ellen Barbara 21 July 2001 I used to think I d live forever The Guardian Retrieved 3 January 2016 Hughes Chris 19 September 1996 I Feel So Scared for My Little Boy He s Very Brave Bjork My Acid Bomb Terror The Mirror London Retrieved 2 September 2012 Whiteley Shelia 2013 Too Much Too Young Popular Music Age and Gender Routledge p 105 ISBN 978 1 136 50229 3 Robledo S Jhoanna Bjork and Barney to Brooklyn Heights New York Magazine New York Mag Retrieved 8 March 2021 Romney Jonathon 18 September 2011 Matthew Barney The Bizarre Genius of Bjork s Boyfriend The Independent Retrieved 8 March 2021 Bjork Discusses the Breakdown of relationship with artist Matthew Barney which inspired Vulnicura New Musical Express 21 January 2015 Retrieved 9 March 2021 Cahill Mikey 31 January 2015 Bjork s Journey through a heart of darkness and the mending of a broken heart Herald Sun Retrieved 8 March 2021 Purcell Andrew 13 March 2013 Bjork goes public with her broken heart on Vulnicura Sydney Morning Herald Retrieved 8 March 2021 Army of Me The progress 12 June 2007 Archived from the original on 12 June 2007 Retrieved 20 July 2012 Bjork visits UNICEF s work in Banda Aceh photo gallery 2008 Live 8 entices Bjork to perform Los Angeles Times 25 June 2005 ISSN 0458 3035 Retrieved 16 March 2016 Bjork steals show as Tokyo kicks off Live8 The Telegraph Archived from the original on 10 January 2022 Retrieved 16 March 2016 Vidar Ringstrom Kukl Hanshan org Retrieved 9 January 2011 Statement Archived 7 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine bjork com news 2008 4 March 2008 Retrieved 5 March 2008 nme com 2008 Bjork Serbian gig cancelled over her pro Kosovan stance NME Retrieved 4 March 2008 Asia Pacific Bjork makes free Tibet gesture BBC News 4 March 2008 Retrieved 28 February 2011 Entertainment Western acts welcome in China BBC News 13 March 2008 Retrieved 28 February 2011 Bjork shows support for Scottish yes vote with Declare Independence post The Guardian 17 September 2014 Retrieved 7 March 2017 for catalonia 2 October 2017 Retrieved 7 October 2017 Interview Bjork talks piracy punk Lady Gaga and Biophilia DrownedInSound Archived from the original on 14 May 2018 Retrieved 14 May 2018 Bjork Speaks Iceland Sold Out To Big Industry Business Insider Retrieved 14 May 2018 Kanter James 13 November 2008 Bjork Wages Battle Against Icelandic Aluminum Green Blog Retrieved 14 May 2018 Bjork Writes About Icelandic Environment Economy Pitchfork pitchfork com 29 October 2008 Retrieved 14 May 2018 Sean Michaels 31 December 2008 Bjork s mission to revive Icelandic economy The Guardian grapevine is 2010 Bjork on Magma Energy Archived from the original on 24 May 2010 Retrieved 21 May 2010 Bjork Talks About Icelandic Energy Controversy Pitchfork 3 December 2010 Retrieved 9 January 2011 Bjork and friends raise ISK 35 million for nature protection 2014 Retrieved 1 May 2014 Bjork Even venture capitalists understand our future is in nature TheGuardian com 2014 Retrieved 15 June 2014 words in edgeways with leila arab wears the trousers magazine a women in music compendium Archived 23 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine Wearsthetrousers com 10 September 2009 Retrieved 28 February 2011 HK119 amp Bjork Interview Dazed amp Confused Archived from the original on 22 February 2010 bjork com news 2011 Bjork com Retrieved 28 February 2011 Archived 25 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Eleven awarded Order of the Falcon Dagur Timinn Dagsprent 26 April 1997 Retrieved 9 January 2020 Book sources Edit Pytlik Mark 2003 Bjork Wow and Flutter ECW Press ISBN 1 55022 556 1 Further reading EditBjork The Illustrated Story by Paul Lester Hamlyn 1996 Bjork An Illustrated Biography by Mick St Michael Omnibus Press 1996 Bjork Bjorkgraphy by Martin Aston Simon amp Schuster 1996 Bjork Coleccion Imagenes de Rock N 82 by Jordi Bianciotto Editorial La Mascara 1997 Dancer in the Dark by Lars von Trier Film Four 2000 Lobster or Fame by olafur Johann Engilbertsson Bad Taste 2000 Army of She Icelandic Iconoclastic Irrepressible Bjork by Evelyn McDonnell Random House 2001 Human Behaviour by Ian Gittins Carlton 2002 Bjork There s More to Life Than This The Stories Behind Every Song by Ian Gittins Imprint 2002 Bjork by Nicola Dibben Equinox 2009 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bjork Wikiquote has quotations related to Bjork Official website Bjork discography at Discogs Bjork at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bjork amp oldid 1145626829, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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