"Big Time Sensuality" is a song by Icelandic singer and songwriter
Björk, released as the fourth single from her debut album, ''
Debut'' (1993). Written by Björk and staple collaborator
Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper (born Paul Andrew Hooper on 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer w ...
and produced by Hooper, "Big Time Sensuality" is a
house-influenced song that helped boost Björk's popularity worldwide, particularly in the US, where she charted for the first time.
The lyrics deal with her relationship with her friends and Hooper. The song features house grooves and electronic
bass-sounds. The single release was actually the "Fluke Minimix", which is a mix by
Fluke, and the song was performed in this version on various occasions, including the inaugural
MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...
. Critics praised the song and the remix calling them "saucy" and commenting on their house and pop flavors.
A different edit of the Fluke remix was featured in the music video for the song, directed by
Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor.
Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited ...
, in which Björk dances and sings on a truck throughout
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The video was praised by critics and fans and received heavy rotation on
MTV channels.
The video edit of the Fluke remix was also featured in Björk's first compilation album, ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'' (2002).
Background
After leaving
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes ( Icelandic: Sykurmolarnir) were an Icelandic alternative rock band from Reykjavík formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1992. For most of their career, the band consisted of Björk Guðmundsdóttir (vocals, keyboards), Einar Örn Bened ...
, Björk traveled to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
where she began having contacts with
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
music, and that inspired her to change her musical style from the
pop-
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
sounds of the Sugarcubes to a more
alternative
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
and electronic style of music. "Big Time Sensuality" was one of the last songs to be written for ''Debut'', and was originally planned to be the first single from the album,
but it got delayed by the release of "
Human Behaviour
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Kagan, Jerome, Marc H. Bornstein, and Richard M. ...
". It was then intended to be the third single, but it got delayed again by the success of "
Play Dead", and was finally released as the fourth single on 22 November 1993.
The song was co-written by Björk and
Nellee Hooper
Nellee Hooper (born Paul Andrew Hooper on 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer w ...
and produced by Hooper, which helped her in writing and producing her first
two
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
albums. The singer's meeting with Hooper inspired her in writing the song: "I think it's quite rare, when you're obsessed with your job, as I am, when you met someone who's your other part jobwise and enables you to do what you completely want".
The lyrics deal with enjoying life to its fullest and, in spite of its name, it was inspired by Björk's friends. The lyrics deal also with braveness: "I’ve got a lot of courage, but I’ve also got a lot of fear. You should allow yourself to be scared. It’s one of the prime emotions. You might almost enjoy it, funny as it sounds, and find that you can get over it and deal with it. If you ignore these things, you miss so much. But when you want to enjoy something, especially when it’s something you’ve just been introduced to, you’ve got to have a lot of courage to do it. I don’t think I’m more courageous than most people. I’m an even mixture of all those prime emotions".
After the release of ''Debut'', Björk's songs received numerous remixes from different producers. "Big Time Sensuality" received three different remixes from
Fluke. One of them, called the "Fluke Minimix", was chosen by Björk to receive a single treatment instead of the original, and the remix was performed on different occasions and a music video was made of it. An extended version of the "Fluke Minimix" was used as the "single version" of the song, and is also the version used in the video. However, this version was not available until the release of Björk's ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'', as the version featured on the single was shorter.
The single also contained "Glóra" ("Gloria") and "Síðasta Ég" ("The Last Me") as B-sides, two songs that were recorded by
The Elgar Sisters The Elgar Sisters was an Icelandic duo formed by singer Björk Guðmundsdóttir and composer Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson in 1984. The Elgar Sisters coexisted with Kukl, another group they were part of.
The origin of the duo’s name dates back ...
, a group formed in the early eighties by guitarist
Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson
Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson (born 11 December 1954) is an Icelandic musician.
Music career
Early bands
Steinblóm (Stone Flowers) (1969) was his first group. It was a trio formed by Guðlaugur (electric and acoustic guitars), Haraldur Joha ...
and Björk. "Glóra" is an instrumental track which features a
flute-solo played by Björk, who also wrote and produced the track. "Síðasta Ég" was written by Björk, Óttarsson and Þór Eldon Jónsson, a member of the Sugarcubes, and was produced by Björk and Óttarsson, with
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
played by Óttarsson.
Composition
The first two verses of "Big Time Sensuality" are underscored by upbeat
keyboards that lead into
electronica and
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
-influenced grooves that Sandy Masuo of ''
Option'' defined as "brooding". Björk belts out the first lines accompanied by a base of percussion, while the chorus features stronger electronic beats. After the first two verses, Björk sings some sounds like moans or shouts. Ben Thompson defined the yells sequence as "sinuous pop-funk squawk".
After the
interlude
Interlude may refer to:
*a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production
*''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production
*a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...
"I don't know my future after this weekend/And I don't want to!"
funk-like sounds lead the song to an end.
The "Fluke Minimix" is composed on a series of synthesizers and by slower vocals. The remix features electronic bass and heavily uses
reverb
Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abs ...
. The track ends with the lines "It takes courage to enjoy it/The hardcore/And the gentle/Of Big Time Sensuality" whispered by Björk.
Critical reception
The song was deemed as a highlight of ''
Debut'' and was praised by critics. Reviewing the album, Heather Phares of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, noted that "Björk's playful energy ignites the
dance-pop-like "Big Time Sensuality" and turns the genre on its head with "There's More to Life Than This." Recorded live at the Milk Bar Toilets, it captures the dancefloor's sweaty, claustrophobic groove, but her impish voice gives it an almost alien feel". The website cites the track as an
All Media Network-pick, and in a track review, Stacia Proefrock defined it as an "aggressive, screechy
dance number" that "While not scraping the top of the charts
..was part of an album unusual enough to stand out among its fellow pop releases as a quirky and complex experiment that worked most of the time".
Larry Flick from ''
Billboard'' wrote, "Wiggly bass and heavy beat come to the fore here, unfortunately competing with Björk's voice for lead billing, when her vocal really should be allowed to steal the show." Sean McCarthy of the Daily Vault defined the track as "insanely addictive". John Hamilton from ''
Idolator
An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry.
Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books
*''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music
* Idolator (website), an American music blog
* ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...
'' felt that "this dancefloor monster resembles the soulful American
house sounds of
Crystal Waters and
Ultra Nate
adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. ' ...
in its original album mix, but for the single, it was revamped into a storming
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
jam by remix duo
Fluke."
Martin Aston from ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' gave it four out of five, stating that it "sees the ubiquitous star this time going for the big dancefloor smash", adding that "she can do no wrong right now."
Simon Reynolds of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' stated that "the sultry ''Big Time Sensuality'' has her vaulting from chesty growls to hyperventilating harmonies so piercing she sounds as if she’s inhaled helium". Johnny Dee from ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' commented, "More fun, madness and surprise follows", noting "the pulsating grind" of the song. Tim Jeffery from the ''
RM'' Dance Update noted, "That soaring voice starts the track over swirling synths before a deep and rumbling bassline powers in and the rest is history repeated as Bjork heads for another smash." German band
Culture Beat
Culture Beat is a German Eurodance project formed in 1989 by Torsten Fenslau. The act has gone through a number of lineup changes over the years; they achieved the most success whilst fronted by singer Tania Evans and rapper Jay Supreme. Their ...
reviewed it for ''
Smash Hits'', giving it four out of five.
Tania Evans
Tania Evans (born 28 May 1967) is a British singer and songwriter. She gained popularity during her participation in the German Eurodance group Culture Beat from 1993 to 1997.
Career
Evans' first release was the single "Can't Let Go" in 1992 o ...
said, "She really knows how to express herself as an artist and I like the irregularity of her phrasing and the way she uses her voice. She is unique."
Jay Supreme added, "I love her, her voice is real good. This song comes from a different angle but you can tell that it's definitely her." ''
Vox'' journalist Lucy O'Brien called it "saucy".
"Big Time Sensuality" was nominated in the
Best Song category at the
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards
The first MTV Europe Music Awards were held on 24 November 1994, at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and four years after reunification. Hosted by Tom Jones, the show featured performances by Aerosm ...
, losing to "
7 Seconds" by
Youssou N'Dour
Youssou N'Dour (, wo, Yuusu Nduur; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine describe ...
and
Neneh Cherry. In 1995, the song was awarded one of
ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Awards.
Music video
Background and synopsis
To shoot the
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for "Big Time Sensuality", Björk called upon
Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor.
Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited ...
, who had previously directed videos for
Madonna,
U2, and
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
. Sednaoui heard about Björk when he went to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
for the first time and declared to be fascinated by her music.
Björk personally wanted the director after seeing some photos of
Kurt Cobain shot by him, that Björk recalled as being the only photos in which she saw Cobain "laughing out loud and dancing".
Sednaoui at first wanted to go to Iceland to shoot the music video, but the costs were too high for the budget. Björk explained the inspiration for the music video: "when you're living on the edge and it's about the courage to enjoy life".
The director got the idea for the music video while he was in
New York and realised that "it would work amazingly with the city. With all the big buildings and everything and her voice".
The video for "Big Time Sensuality" was shot in
black and white on 26 October 1993 and features Björk dancing on the back of a moving truck slowly driving through
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in the middle of the day. Björk appears in a white dress and with her typical hairstyle. The video uses film effects like
slow motion
Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...
and
fast motion
Time-lapse photography is a technique in which the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than the frequency used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and th ...
. The version of the song used in the video is a remix by
Fluke. This version is an edit of the full "Fluke Moulimix" that was longer than the edit provided for radio ("The Fluke Minimix"). There is also a rare nighttime version which was released only on the director's label ''The Work of Stephane Sednaoui'' DVD as well as an uncut alternative daytime version.
The video helped Björk to be known in North America where it received heavy rotation on
MTV channels, with many noting that the video was more known in the country than the song: "Few people know how the melody for "Big Time Sensuality" starts, but anyone who watched MTV in the early '90s could cheerfully belt out the single measure when she sings the words "Big Time Sensuality".
Usage in media
The video was later spoofed by British comedians
French & Saunders
''French and Saunders'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comedy duo and namesake Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders that originally broadcast on BBC2 from 1987 to 1993, and later on BBC One until 2017. It is a ...
, in a low budget fashion (i.e., on a
greenscreen
Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two images or video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and displa ...
), and also plays on the name of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, Björk's home country, with the
store of the same name. A short scene of the video can be seen in the movie ''
Vanilla Sky
''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was written by Amenábar ...
'' (2001) in a vision sequence
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...
has.
Live performances
The song received a heavy promotion, and as such, Björk did numerous TV appearances. On 8 August 1993, she appeared on the UK show ''The Beat'', performing the song along with "
Venus as a Boy
"Venus as a Boy" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk, released as the second single from her 1993 album, ''Debut''. The song was written by Björk and was produced by Nellee Hooper, who produced the majority of her debut album. The single was ...
" and "Come to Me". Björk performed the song live on other British shows like ''Dance Energy'', ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
'' and ''
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was a British awards ceremony which ran from 1979 (as the Smash Hits Readers' Poll) to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of the '' Smash Hits'' magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in F ...
''. She then performed the song live on ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
'', in one of her first appearance on the American broadcast. She performed the track on ''
MTV's Most Wanted
''MTV's Most Wanted'' is a television series on MTV Europe which was broadcast from 1992 to 1995, based in London, England. It was presented by Ray Cokes. The series was broadcast live from MTV Studios in Camden and featured blends of viewer int ...
'', where she performed also "
Human Behaviour
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Kagan, Jerome, Marc H. Bornstein, and Richard M. ...
", and on ''
The Grind''. On a rare
lip-synch
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...
performance, she sang the song on the Italian show ''
Festivalbar
The Festivalbar was an Italian singing competition that took place in the most important Italian squares during summer, such as the Piazza del Duomo, Catania or Piazza Bra, Verona. The first edition took place in 1964 and was broadcast by RAI. ...
''. She also performed the song live, dressed in a big, red gown at the
1994 MTV Europe Music Awards
The first MTV Europe Music Awards were held on 24 November 1994, at Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and four years after reunification. Hosted by Tom Jones, the show featured performances by Aerosm ...
, where she received two nominations. The song was part of her ''
MTV Unplugged
''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV showcasing musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999 and less frequently from 2000 to 2009, when it was usually billed as ''MTV Un ...
'' set list, where it received a different arrangement, accompanied by Indian Instruments and a
harpsichord. Its performance was released on ''Debut Live'', which was included in ''
Live Box''.
"Big Time Sensuality" was a staple performance at her
Debut Tour
The Debut Tour was the first tour by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, and it mainly focused on her album ''Debut (Björk album), Debut''. She toured from 1993 to 1994. The tour was released on VHS and DVD as ''Vessel (DVD), Vessel''. A separate ...
and
Post Tour. Notably, its performance during the Post Tour at the
O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...
in London was released on her VHS and DVD release ''
Live at Shepherds Bush Empire'', with the same performance released on ''Post Live'', where it was given a "much more minimal treatment"
accompanied by
Leila Arab
Leila Arab ( fa, لیلا عرب, born in 1971), professionally known as Leila, is an Iranian-born record producer and DJ based in London, England. She has released music on the labels Rephlex, XL and Warp. She has also worked extensively with ...
"gently hyperkinetic jungle beats".
Accolades
The information regarding accolades attributed to "Big Time Sensuality" is adapted from
Acclaimed Music, except where otherwise noted.
[Acclaimed Music – Big Time Sensuality](_blank)
. Acclaimed Music. Retrieved on 29 February 2016.
Track listings
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
See also
*
List of number-one dance singles of 1994 (U.S.)
References
External links
Big Time Sensuality webpage
{{Authority control
1993 singles
Björk songs
Number-one singles in Iceland
Dance-pop songs
Music videos directed by Stéphane Sednaoui
Songs written by Nellee Hooper
Song recordings produced by Nellee Hooper
Black-and-white music videos
1993 songs
One Little Indian Records singles
Songs written by Björk
House music songs
UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles