Björk Guðmundsdóttir
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Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known
mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...
ously as Björk, 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 Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
musical style over her four-decade career that has drawn on
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 ...
, pop,
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
,
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
, classical, and
avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elemen ...
. Born and raised in
Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
, Björk began her music career at the age of 11 and gained international recognition as the lead singer of the
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
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 ...
, by the age of 21. After the band's breakup in 1992, Björk embarked on a solo career, coming to prominence with albums such as ''
Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...
'' (1993), ''
Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
'' (1995), and ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylist ...
'' (1997), while collaborating with a range of artists and exploring a variety of multimedia projects. Her other albums include ''
Vespertine ''Vespertine'' is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 27 August 2001 in the United Kingdom by One Little Independent Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Production on the album ...
'' (2001), ''
Medúlla ''Medúlla'' is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her electron ...
'' (2004), '' Volta'' (2007), '' Biophilia'' (2011), ''
Vulnicura ''Vulnicura'' is the eighth studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings befo ...
'' (2015), ''
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
'' (2017) and ''
Fossora ''Fossora'' is the tenth studio album by Icelandic singer-musician Björk. It was released on 30 September 2022 through One Little Independent Records. The album was recorded mainly during the COVID-19 pandemic and centers around the theme of is ...
'' (2022). Several of Björk's albums have reached the top 20 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. , she had sold more than 20 million records worldwide. 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 "It's Oh So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single "Murder, He Says". It is a cover of the German song "Und jetzt ist es still", Select Work ID and search for 390157329. Performers include ...
", "
Army of Me "Army of Me" is a song recorded by Icelandic musician Björk for her second studio album ''Post (Björk album), Post'' (1995). It was released on 24 April 1995 by One Little Indian Records, One Little Indian as the lead single from the album. T ...
", and "
Hyperballad "Hyperballad" (sometimes written as "Hyper-Ballad") is a song by Icelandic musician and recording artist Björk, released as the fourth single from her second solo album, ''Post'' (1995). The song was written by Björk and co-produced by long t ...
" and the top-20 singles " Play Dead", "
Big Time Sensuality "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 and produced by Hooper, "Big Time Sensuali ...
", and "
Violently Happy "Violently Happy" is a song by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk, released in March 1994 as the fifth and final single from her debut album, ''Debut (Björk album), Debut'' (1993). The song was written by Björk and Nellee Hooper, who helped he ...
". Her accolades and awards include the
Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...
, five
BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
, and 15
Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
nominations. In 2015, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' named her one of the
100 most influential people in the world ''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...
. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' named her the 60th greatest singer and the 81st greatest songwriter. Björk starred in the 2000
Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...
film ''
Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
'', for which she won the Best Actress Award at the
2000 Cannes Film Festival The 53rd Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 25 May 2000. French film director, screenwriter, and producer Luc Besson was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the Danish film ''Dancer in the Dark'' by Lars von Trier. The fe ...
, and was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...
for "
I've Seen It All "I've Seen It All" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for the ''Dancer in the Dark'' soundtrack, ''Selmasongs'' (2000). It was written by the singer, along with Sjón and Lars von Trier, who also directed the film. It was released as ...
". ''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 A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...
dedicated to Björk was held at the New York
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in 2015.


Life and career


1965–1984: Early life and career beginnings

Björk was born on 21 November 1965 in
Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
, where she grew up. Her mother was activist Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir (7 October 1946 – 25 October 2018), who protested against the development of Iceland's
Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant ( is, Kárahnjúkavirkjun ), officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station ( is, Fljótsdalsstöð ) is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce annuall ...
. Her father is
Guðmundur Gunnarsson Guðmundur Gunnarsson (born 29 October 1945) is an Icelandic electrician who served as the leader of the Icelandic Electricians' Union, Rafiðnaðarsamband Íslands (RSÍ) from 1993 until 2011. He is the father of the singer Björk (Björk ...
, a union leader and electrician. They divorced when Björk was born and she moved with her mother to a
commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...
. Her stepfather is Sævar Árnason, a former guitarist in the band Pops. At six, Björk enrolled at Reykjavík school Barnamúsíkskóli, where she studied
classical piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
and
flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
. After a school recital in which Björk sang Tina Charles's 1976 hit "
I Love to Love "I Love to Love" is a song recorded by German Eurodance group La Bouche, released in November 1995 as the fourth and last single of their debut album, '' Sweet Dreams'' (1995). The song achieved a minor success in comparison with " Be My Lover" ...
", 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 ''Fálkinn'' was an Icelandic record label. The label's only well known original release was Björk's 1977 debut album '' Björk''. ''Fálkinn'' is sometimes used as the title for the album as the album did not have an official title. Fálkinn wa ...
record label offered Björk a recording contract. Her début, ''
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
'', was recorded when she was 11 years old and was released in Iceland in December 1977. During her teens, after the diffusion of punk rock music in Iceland, Björk formed the all-girl punk band Spit and Snot. In 1980, she formed a
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
group, Exodus, collaborated in another group, JAM80, and graduated from music school. In 1982, she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another group,
Tappi Tíkarrass Tappi Tíkarrass was an Icelandic punk band which added elements of funk, rock and jazz to their music, marking a difference from other traditional bands at that time. The band is also considered the first serious music project of now renowned sin ...
("Cork the Bitch's Ass" in Icelandic), and released EP ''
Bitið fast í vitið ' (roughly "Bite Hard In Your Mind" in Icelandic) is the début EP of Icelander punk/ pop group . It was released in late-1982 on the label, and led by vocalists and . This was the band's most punk-oriented release and contains five tracks, fe ...
'' ("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 ''Rokk í Reykjavík'' () is a documentary directed by Icelandic Friðrik Þór Friðriksson during the Icelandic winter of 1981-1982 and released for the local television in 1982. With this documentary, Friðriksson showcases the alternative m ...
'', with Björk being featured on the cover of the VHS release. Around this time, Björk met guitarist Þór Eldon and
surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
group Medusa, which also included poet
Sjón image:Sjon litteratureXchange-2019 DSC09264.jpg, 260px, Sjón at LiteratureXchange Festival ín Aarhus (Denmark 2019) Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (born 27 August 1962), known as Sjón ( ; ; meaning "sight" and being an abbreviation of his firs ...
, with whom she started a lifelong collaboration and formed a group, Rokka Rokka Drum. She described her time as part of Medusa as "a gorgeous D.I.Y. organic university: extreme fertility!" Björk appeared as a featured artist on "Afi", a track from the Björgvin Gíslason 1983 record ''Örugglega''. Due to the imminent discontinuance of radio show ''Áfangar'', two radio personalities, Ásmundur Jónsson and Guðni Rúnar, requested musicians to play on a last
live radio Live radio is radio broadcast without delay. Before the days of television, audiences listened to live dramas, comedies, quiz shows and concerts on the radio much the same way that they now do on television. Most talk radio is live radio where peo ...
show. Björk joined with Einar Melax (from the group Fan Houtens Kókó),
Einar Örn Benediktsson Einar Örn Benediktsson (born 29 October 1962), often billed as Einar Örn, is an Icelandic popular music singer and trumpet player. He was a member of the Sugarcubes. He served as a member of the Reykjavík City Council between 2010 and 2014. ...
(from Purrkur Pillnikk),
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
Sigtryggur Baldursson Sigtryggur Baldursson (born 2 October 1962) is an Icelandic drummer and singer. Sigtryggur was born in Norway to Icelandic parents. He was a founding member of the Sugarcubes and has been a longtime fixture on the Icelandic punk and alternativ ...
(from Þeyr), and Birgir Mogensen (from Spilafífl) to perform in the concert. The group developed a
gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
sound. During this experience, Björk began to develop her vocalisation – punctuated by howls and shrieks. The project performed as Gott kvöld during the concert. When they later decided to keep playing together as a group, they used the name ("
Sorcery Sorcery may refer to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities * Magic in fiction, ...
" in Icelandic). Björk's acquaintance gave the group their studio to record in and released their first single in 1983. Their first big performance at a festival in Iceland was headlined by English
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
punk band
Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk s ...
, whose record label,
Crass Records Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist Punk rock, punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own D ...
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 The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...
in Denmark. This made Kukl the first Icelandic band to play at the festival. During this period Björk published a hand-coloured book of poems. ''
Um Úrnat frá Björk ''Um Úrnat frá Björk'' (in English, ''About Úrnat from Björk'') is an Icelandic fairy tale and poetry book by Björk. It was released by Smekkleysa Bad Taste (known as Smekkleysa in Icelandic, literally ''Tastelessness'') is one of Ice ...
'' was distributed in 1984.


1985–1992: The Sugarcubes, marriage and motherhood

Kukl's second album, ''
Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought) ''Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought)'' is the second and last studio album by the Icelandic post-punk group Kukl, released on January 24, 1986, by Crass Records. The album has been reissued numerous times: in 1997 by Crass Records, and ...
'', 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 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 ...
. Some of the songs they recorded ended up as B-sides to Björk solo singles. Björk had her first acting role on '' The Juniper Tree'' (filmed in 1986, released in 1990), a tale of
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
based on the
Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...
story, directed by Nietzchka Keene. Björk played the role of Margit, a girl whose mother has been killed for practising witchcraft. That summer, former band member Einar Örn and Eldon formed the arts collective ''
Smekkleysa Bad Taste (known as Smekkleysa in Icelandic, literally ''Tastelessness'') is one of Iceland’s most important record labels; located in Reykjavík and known worldwide for being home to The Sugarcubes, it also publishes poetry books, short fil ...
'' ("Bad Taste" in Icelandic), created with the intention of being both a record label and book publishing company. Various friends, namely Melax and Sigtryggur from Kukl, along with
Bragi Ólafsson Bragi Ólafsson (born 11 August 1962 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic musician and a writer. Internationally he is best known for his work as a bassist in The Sugarcubes, the avant-garde pop band from Iceland that brought fame to Björk ...
and Friðrik Erlingson from Purrkur Pillnikk, joined the group and a band coalesced in the collective solely to make money. They were initially called Þukl, but they were advertised as Kukl (the name of the previous band). At a later concert supporting Icelandic band Stuðmenn, they referred to themselves as ''Sykurmolarnir'' ("Sugarcubes" in Icelandic). Their first double A-side single "Einn mol'á mann", which contained the songs " Ammæli" ("Birthday") and "Köttur" ("Cat"), was released on 21 November 1986, Björk's 21st birthday. At the end of that year, the band was signed by
One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In th ...
. 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 ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
''. The Sugarcubes also signed a distribution deal with
Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
in the United States and recorded their first album, ''
Life's Too Good ''Life's Too Good'' is the debut studio album by Icelandic alternative rock group the Sugarcubes. It was released in April 1988 by One Little Indian in the UK and Europe and in May 1988 by Elektra Records in the US. The album was an unexpected suc ...
'', which was released in 1988. After the release of the album, Eldon and Björk divorced soon after the birth of their child despite being in the same group. The album went on to sell more than one million copies worldwide. Björk contributed as a background vocalist on 1987 album ''
Loftmynd ''Loftmynd'' ("Aerial") was an album released in August 1987 by Icelandic rock singer Megas. Formed of 17 tracks, this album was released through Gramm and featured singer Björk and her sister Inga Guðmundsdóttir as background vocalists. ''L ...
'' by
Megas Magnús Þór Jónsson (born 7 April 1945), better known by the stage name Megas, is a vocalist, songwriter, and writer who is well known in his native Iceland. Interest in music Being an admirer of Elvis Presley, Megas welcomed the arrival of ...
, for whom she provided background vocals also on his subsequent album ''
Höfuðlausnir ''Höfuðlausnir'' was an album released in May 1988 by Icelandic rock singer Megas. This album was released through Gramm and featured singers Björk and Rose McDowall as background vocalists. ''Höfuðlausnir'' also includes Megas’ long-ti ...
'' (1988) and ''
Hættuleg hljómsveit & glæpakvendið Stella ''Hættuleg hljómsveit & glæpakvendið Stella'' was an album released in September 1990 by Icelandic rock singer Megas. This double CD album featured The Sugarcubes, a band led by Björk and Einar Örn Benediktsson. Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttars ...
'' (1990). In the last quarter of 1988, the Sugarcubes toured North America to positive reception. On 15 October, the band appeared on ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''. Björk alone contributed a rendition of the
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
song "Jólakötturinn" ("The Christmas Cat") on the compilation ''Hvít Er Borg Og Bær''. The band went on hiatus following the lack of reception of ''
Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week! ''Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!'' is the second studio album by Icelandic alternative rock band the Sugarcubes, released in September 1989 through Elektra Records. A version of the album sung in Icelandic titled ''Illur Arfur!'' (English: ''Bad ...
'' (1989) and a lengthy international tour. During this time, Björk started working on her solo projects. In 1990 she provided background vocals on ''Gums'' by Bless. In the same year, she recorded ''
Gling-Gló ''Gling-Gló'' is the only studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason o ...
'', a collection of popular
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and original work, with the jazz group
Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar ( Eng.: Guðmundur Ingólfsson's Trio) was an Icelandic bebop group and a piano trio, long since disbanded, following the death of its leader, pianist Guðmundur Ingólfsson in 1991. The other two members of the trio ...
, which was still her best-selling album in her home country. Björk also contributed vocals to
808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...
's album '' ex:el'', with whom she cultivated her interest in
house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
. She contributed vocals on the songs "Qmart" and on "Ooops", which was released as a single in the UK in 1991. She also contributed vocals to the song "Falling", on the album ''
Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
'' by
Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...
and
Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson (; born 23 April 1958), also known as HÖH, is a musician, an art director, and '' allsherjargoði'' (''chief goði'') of Ásatrúarfélagið ("the Ásatrú Association"). Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson was a pioneer in the use ...
. In the same year she met
harpist The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...
Corky Hale Corky Hale (born July 3, 1936) is an American jazz harpist, pianist, flutist, and vocalist. She has been a theater producer, political activist, restaurateur, and the owner of the Corky Hale women's clothing store in Los Angeles, California. Ear ...
, with whom she had a recording session that ended up as a track on her future album ''
Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...
''. 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 ''Stick Around for Joy'' is the third and final studio album by Icelandic alternative rock band the Sugarcubes. It was released in 1992 by Elektra. The album was supported by four singles: "Hit", which reached number one on the Modern Rock Track ...
'' (1992), with a subsequent promotional tour, which she agreed to do. Björk was featured on two tracks of the soundtrack for the 1992 film ''
Remote Control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such as ...
'' (known as ''Sódóma Reykjavík'' in Iceland). The Sugarcubes split up after they played one last show in Reykjavík. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' has called them "the biggest rock band to emerge from Iceland".


1993–1996: ''Debut'' and ''Post''

Björk moved to
London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to pursue a solo career; she began working with producer
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 ...
(who had produced
Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
, among others). Their partnership produced Björk's first international solo hit, "
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. ...
", a clattering dance track based on a guitar rhythm sampled from
Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered one of the great exponents of Brazilian mu ...
. 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 Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
, who became a frequent collaborator for Björk. Her first adult solo album, ''
Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...
'', was released in June 1993 to positive reviews; it was named album of the year by ''
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 ...
'' and eventually went
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
in the United States. ''Debut'' was the leap Björk made from being in numerous bands during her teens and early twenties to her solo career. She named the album ''Debut'' to signify a start of something new. ''Debut'' had a mix of songs Björk had been writing since she was a teenager, as well as more recent lyrical collaborations with Hooper. The
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
-oriented album varied in instrumentation. One single from the album, "
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 ...
", featured a
Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
-influenced string arrangement. Björk covered the jazz standard "
Like Someone in Love "Like Someone in Love" is a popular song composed in 1944 by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Johnny Burke. It was written (along with "Sleigh Ride in July") for the 1944 film, ''Belle of the Yukon'', where it was sung by Dinah Shore. It was a hi ...
" 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 Brit Awards 1994 was the 14th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 14 February 1994 at Alexandra Palace in London. It was t ...
, Björk won the awards for Best International Female and Best International Newcomer. The success of ''Debut'' enabled her to collaborate with British and other artists on one-off tracks. She worked with
David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
on " Play Dead", the theme to the 1993 film ''
The Young Americans The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral ...
'' (which appeared as a bonus track on a re-release of ''Debut''), collaborated on two songs for Tricky's ''
Nearly God ''Nearly God'' is the unofficial second album by English rapper and producer Tricky. It was released in February 1996 under the pseudonym "Nearly God", which originated from an interview during which Tricky was asked "so how does it feel to be Go ...
'' project, appeared on the track "Lilith" for the album ''
Not for Threes ''Not for Threes'' is the second studio album by English electronic music duo Plaid. It was released on 27 October 1997 by Warp. The album was released in the United States on 28 April 1998 by Nothing Records. Critical reception In 2017, ''Pi ...
'' by
Plaid Plaid () may refer to: Fabric * Full plaid, a cloth made with a tartan pattern, wrapped around the waist, cast over the shoulder and fastened at the front * A synonym for tartan in North America * A plaid shirt, typically of flannel and worn du ...
, and co-wrote the song "
Bedtime Story A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep. The bedtime story has long been considered "a definite institution in many families".Dickson, Marguerite Stockma ...
" for
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's 1994 album '' Bedtime Stories''. Björk also had an uncredited role as a runway model in the 1994 film ''
Prêt-à-Porter Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothin ...
''. ''
Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
'' was Björk's second solo studio album. Released in June 1995, the album was produced in conjunction with
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 ...
, Tricky,
Graham Massey Graham Vernon Massey (born 4 August 1960 in Manchester) is a British record producer, musician, and remixer. Early career He was a member of experimental jazz rock group Biting Tongues, once signed to Factory Records. After recording with the ...
of
808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...
, and electronica producer
Howie B Howard Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland), professionally known as Howie B, is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including: Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbi ...
. Building on the success of ''Debut'', Björk continued to pursue different sounds, taking particular interest in dance and
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
. Production by Tricky and Howie B also provided trip hop/electronica-like sounds on tracks like "
Possibly Maybe "Possibly Maybe" is a song by Björk, released as the fifth single from her second album ''Post'' (1995). It is a song with deep electronic tones and soft beats that reflects on potential love. Released in the United Kingdom as the fifth single ...
" and "Enjoy". It was these producers' influence along with older friend Graham Massey that inspired Björk to create material like the storming
industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...
beats of "
Army of Me "Army of Me" is a song recorded by Icelandic musician Björk for her second studio album ''Post (Björk album), Post'' (1995). It was released on 24 April 1995 by One Little Indian Records, One Little Indian as the lead single from the album. T ...
". The album was ranked number 7 in ''
Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' "Top 90 Albums of the '90s" list and number 75 in its "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005" list. ''Post'' and ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylist ...
'' were placed back to back on
Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...
's "Top Albums of the '90s" list at numbers 21 and 20, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 373 on ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' magazine's list of
the 500 greatest albums of all time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indust ...
. During this period, the press exalted Björk's eccentricity by creating a "
pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...
" persona around her, a descriptor she later confronted with her following albums. Although Björk continued to receive more mainstream attention for her videos than her singles, ''Post'' included several UK pop hits and was eventually certified
platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...
in the US. Note: reader must define search parameter as "Bjork". Björk also contributed to the 1995
Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...
collaborative album ''
Chansons des mers froides ''Chansons des mers froides'' ( French: Songs from the Cold Seas) is a 1994 album by French musician Hector Zazou. Zazou approached Sony Records with merely the title and the concept of songs from the Arctic. He was accompanied by cameraman Phi ...
'', singing the traditional Icelandic song "
Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu (English: "Verses by Rósa of Vatnsendi") is a traditional Icelandic song. The lyrics are a poem written by Rósa Guðmundsdóttir (1795–1855); the melody is a traditional lullaby, arranged by Jón Ásgeirsson (1928– ...
". On 12 September 1996, disturbed fan Ricardo López mailed a
letter bomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with t ...
loaded with
sulphuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
to Björk's London home before filming his suicide. The package was intercepted by the
Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
. In her few public comments on this event, Björk said she was "very distressed" by the incident and "I make music, but in other terms, you know, people shouldn't take me too literally and get involved in my personal life."


1997–2000: ''Homogenic'' and ''Dancer in the Dark''

Björk left London for Spain, where she recorded the album ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylist ...
'', released in 1997. Björk worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and
Howie B Howard Bernstein (born 18 April 1963, Glasgow, Scotland), professionally known as Howie B, is a Scottish musician, producer and DJ who has worked with artists including: Björk, U2, Tricky, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soul II Soul, Robbi ...
, as well as
Eumir Deodato Eumir Deodato de Almeida (; born 22 June 1942) is a Brazilian pianist, composer, arranger and record producer, primarily in jazz but who has been known for his eclectic melding of genres, such as pop, rock, disco, rhythm and blues, classical, ...
; 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 "Jóga" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer, songwriter and actress Björk for her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). An Electronic music, electronic song, "Jóga" fuses these elements with Baroque music, baroque and Classical music, ...
", which fuses lush strings with rocky electronic crunches. The album was certified
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
in the US in 2001. The album was backed by string of
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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s, several of which received airplay on
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
. The video for "
Bachelorette ''Bachelorette'' (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in American English for a single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word ''bachelor'', and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals. ...
" was directed by frequent collaborator
Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
, while "
All Is Full of Love "All Is Full of Love" is a song by Icelandic musician Björk from her third studio album, ''Homogenic'' (1997). The lyrics were inspired by love in spring and Ragnarök of Norse mythology. Björk's original version is a trip hop ballad with Soul ...
" was directed by
Chris Cunningham Chris Cunningham (born 15 October 1970) is a British video artist and music video director, best known for his music videos for electronic musicians such as Autechre, Squarepusher, and most notably Aphex Twin on videos for "Windowlicker" and " ...
. The single "All is Full of Love" was also the first
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
single to ever be released in the US, which paved the way for other artists to include DVD video and other
multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
features with their singles. Björk began to write more personally, saying "I realised that I'd come to the end of the extrovert thing. I had to go home and search for myself again." In 1999, Björk was asked to write and produce the musical score for the film ''
Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
'', 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 Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...
eventually asked her to consider playing the role of Selma, convincing her that the only true way to capture the character of Selma was to have the composer of the music play the character. Eventually, she accepted. Filming began in early 1999, and the film debuted in 2000 at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival. The film received the
Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
, and Björk received the
Best Actress Award Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...
for her role. It was reported that the shoot was so physically and emotionally tiring that she vowed never to act again. Björk later stated that she always wanted to do one musical in her life, and ''Dancer in the Dark'' was the one. The soundtrack Björk created for the film was released with the title ''
Selmasongs ''Selmasongs: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Dancer in the Dark is the first soundtrack album by Icelandic musician Björk. It was released on September 18, 2000, by One Little Indian Records to promote and accompany the film ''Dancer i ...
''. The album features a duet with
Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...
of
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
titled "
I've Seen It All "I've Seen It All" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for the ''Dancer in the Dark'' soundtrack, ''Selmasongs'' (2000). It was written by the singer, along with Sjón and Lars von Trier, who also directed the film. It was released as ...
", which was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...
and was performed at the 2001 Oscars (without Yorke), while Björk was wearing her celebrated
swan dress The swan dress is an iconic dress resembling a white swan worn by the Icelandic artist Björk at the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001, as well as on the cover of her album ''Vespertine'', photographed by Inez and Vinoodh. Designed by Mar ...
.


2001–2003: ''Vespertine'' and ''Greatest Hits''

In 2001, Björk released the album ''
Vespertine ''Vespertine'' is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 27 August 2001 in the United Kingdom by One Little Independent Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Production on the album ...
''. 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 Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their per ...
, Denmark-based DJ Thomas Knak, and harpist
Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...
. Lyrical sources included the works of American
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
E. E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...
, the American independent filmmaker
Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973, some sources report September 1, 1974)
" Retrieved on 2009-10-26.
is an Ame ...
, and English playwright
Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological ...
's penultimate play, ''
Crave __NOTOC__ Crave or Craving may refer to: Entertainment and media Companies and services * Crave (streaming service), a Canadian video-on-demand streaming service * Crave (TV network), a Canadian linear pay TV service operated in conjunction with ...
''. To coincide with the album's release, an eponymous coffee table book of loose prose and photographs was published. Björk embarked on the
Vespertine World Tour The Vespertine World Tour was a tour by the singer Björk that focused on her album ''Vespertine''. She also performed songs from ''Debut'', ''Post'', ''Homogenic'' and ''Selmasongs''. She performed 35 shows on this tour and 31 different songs. Th ...
. 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 Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
choir, whom she had held auditions for on a trip to Greenland prior to the tour. At the time, ''Vespertine'' was Björk's fastest selling album to date, having sold two million copies by the end of 2001. ''Vespertine'' spawned three singles: "
Hidden Place "Hidden Place" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fourth studio album ''Vespertine'' (2001). Written and produced by Björk herself, "Hidden Place" was released as the lead single from ''Vespertine'' on 30 July 2001 by One Li ...
", "
Pagan Poetry "Pagan Poetry" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fourth studio album ''Vespertine'' (2001). It was released as the second single from the album on 5 November 2001, by One Little Indian Records. A moderate commercial success, ...
", and " Cocoon".
MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...
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 Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may ...
. 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 was a Japanese art director, costume designer, and graphic designer known for her work in stage, screen, advertising, and print media. Noted for her advertising campaigns for the Japanese boutique chain Parco, she collaborated with sportswear ...
and was not aired by MTV. She was invited to record "
Gollum's Song The music of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series was composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore between 2000 and 2004 to support Peter Jackson's film trilogy. It is notable in terms of length of the score, the size of the ...
" 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 Emilíana Torrini (born 16 May 1977) is an Icelandic singer and songwriter. She is best known for her 2009 single "Jungle Drum", her 1999 album '' Love in the Time of Science'', and her performance of " Gollum's Song" for the 2002 film '' The Lo ...
. In 2002 the CD box set ''
Family Tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...
'' was issued. It comprised selected rarities as well as previously unreleased versions of her compositions, including her work with the
Brodsky Quartet The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in 1972 as the "Cleveland Quartet". Only Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas remain as original members. In addition to performing classical music, and in par ...
. Also released alongside ''Family Tree'' was the 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 ...
'', 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. The video, directed by
Spike Jonze Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze began his ca ...
, features a heavily pregnant Björk. She gave birth to daughter Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney on 3 October 2002. Björk and the Brodsky Quartet recorded "Prayer of the Heart", a composition written for her by composer
John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), '' The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and ''Song ...
in 2001, and it was played then for a slide show presentation in 2003 for the American photographer,
Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...
. In 2003, Björk released a box set, ''
Live Box ''Live Box'' is a set of 4 live CDs, a live DVD and a 36-page booklet by Icelandic musician Björk, released in August 2003. Each live CD roughly corresponds to one album in her (at the time of release) four album solo discography. The 4 live C ...
'', 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 ''Medúlla'' is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her electron ...
''. 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 Overtone singing – also known as overtone chanting, harmonic singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and diphonic singing – is a set of singing techniques in which the vocalist manipulates the resonances of the vocal tract, in order to arous ...
Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
, hip hop
beatboxer Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.
Rahzel Rozell Manely Brown (born October 6, 1964) is an American beatboxer and rapper, formerly a member of the Roots. Rahzel is known for an ability to sing or rap while simultaneously beatboxing, as evidenced in his performances of "Iron Man" and his ...
, Japanese beatboxer Dokaka, avant-rocker
Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...
,
Soft Machine Soft Machine are a British rock band from Canterbury formed in mid-1966 by Mike Ratledge (keyboards, 1966–1976), Robert Wyatt (drums, vocals, 1966–1971), Kevin Ayers (bass, guitar, vocals, 1966–1968) and Daevid Allen (guitar, 1966–196 ...
drummer/singer
Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
, and several
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
s. She again appropriated text from E. E. Cummings for the song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI". At the time, ''Medúlla'' became her highest-charting album in the US, debuting at number 14. In August 2004, Björk performed the song "
Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
" at the
Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.
of the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. 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 Shlomo (, Polish: Szlomo, Szlama, Szlamek, Szloma), meaning "peaceable", is a common Hebrew male given name. The following individuals are often referred to only by the name Shlomo: * Solomon, king of ancient Israel, according to various religiou ...
, a
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
-based
beatboxer Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.
, and a London choir. An alternative version of the song began circulating on the Internet with additional vocals by
Kelis Kelis Rogers-Mora (; born August 21, 1979), known mononymously as Kelis, is an American singer, songwriter and a professionally trained chef. At age 14, she was admitted to New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Perform ...
. It originally appeared on the promotional "Oceania" single released to radio stations and later became available to the public as a
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
of the " Who Is It" single, which charted at number 26 in the UK. This was followed in early 2005 by "
Triumph of a Heart "Triumph of a Heart" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fifth studio album ''Medúlla''. Written and produced by Björk, the song features beatboxer Rahzel from The Roots, Gregory Purnhagen, and Japanese beatboxer Dokaka. "Triu ...
", charting at number 31. A video for the potential next single, "
Where Is the Line "Where Is the Line" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her fifth studio album ''Medúlla''. It was written by the singer herself and co-produced with longtime collaborator Mark Bell. The track was originally intended to be release ...
", was filmed in collaboration with the Icelandic artist
Gabríela Friðriksdóttir Gabríela Friðriksdóttir (born 1971 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic visual artist, painter and sculptor. In 2005, she represented Iceland at the Venice Biennale, and she is a previous winner of Iceland's Gudmunda Art Prize (2001). She ...
in late 2004. This was initially a sequence from an art installation movie of the artists but was released exclusively on the '' Medúlla Videos'' DVD as an official promo for the track. In 2005, Björk collaborated with partner
Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
on the experimental art film ''
Drawing Restraint 9 ''Drawing Restraint 9'' is a 2005 film project by visual artist Matthew Barney consisting of a feature-length film, large-scale sculptures, photographs, drawings, and books. The Drawing Restraint series consists of 19 numbered components and relat ...
'', a dialogueless exploration of
Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ance ...
. 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 ''Screaming Masterpiece'' (''Gargandi snilld'' in Icelandic) is a 2005 documentary film directed and written by Ari Alexander Ergis Magnússon about the music scene in Iceland. It attempts to explore the reasons why Iceland has such a rich var ...
'', which delves into the Icelandic music scene. The movie features archive footage of the Sugarcubes and
Tappi Tíkarrass Tappi Tíkarrass was an Icelandic punk band which added elements of funk, rock and jazz to their music, marking a difference from other traditional bands at that time. The band is also considered the first serious music project of now renowned sin ...
and an ongoing conversation with Björk herself. During this era, Björk earned another
BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist. She was also awarded the Inspiration Award at the Annual ''
Q Magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. '' ...
'' Awards in October 2005, accepting the prize from Robert Wyatt, with whom she collaborated on ''Medúlla''. In 2006, Björk remastered her first three solo studio albums (''Debut'', ''Post'', ''Homogenic'') and her two soundtrack albums (''Selmasongs'' and ''Drawing Restraint 9'') in 5.1 surround sound for a re-issue in a new box-set titled '' Surrounded'', released on 27 June. ''Vespertine'' and ''Medúlla'' were already available in 5.1 as either DVD-A or SACD but are also included in the box set in repackaged format. The
DualDisc The DualDisc is a type of double-sided optical disc product developed by a group of record companies including MJJ Productions Inc., EMI Music, Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and 5.1 Entertainment Group an ...
s were also released separately. Björk's former band, the Sugarcubes, reunited for a one-night-only concert in Reykjavík on 17 November 2006. Profits from the concert were donated to the Sugarcubes' former label,
Smekkleysa Bad Taste (known as Smekkleysa in Icelandic, literally ''Tastelessness'') is one of Iceland’s most important record labels; located in Reykjavík and known worldwide for being home to The Sugarcubes, it also publishes poetry books, short fil ...
, who according to Björk's press statement, "continue to work on a non-profit basis for the future betterment of Icelandic music".


2007–2010: ''Volta''

Björk contributed a cover of
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
's song "The Boho Dance" to the album ''
A Tribute to Joni Mitchell ''A Tribute to Joni Mitchell'' is a musical tribute to Joni Mitchell featuring Sufjan Stevens, Björk, Caetano Veloso, Brad Mehldau, Cassandra Wilson, Prince, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, and Ja ...
'' (2007). Director and previous collaborator
Michel Gondry Michel Gondry (; born 8 May 1963) is a French filmmaker noted for his inventive visual style and distinctive manipulation of mise en scène. Along with Charlie Kaufman, he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers ...
asked Björk to star in his film ''
The Science of Sleep ''The Science of Sleep'' (French: ''La Science des rêves'', literally ''The Science of Dreams'') is a 2006 Franco–Italian surrealism, surrealistic science fantasy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry. Starring Gael García Bernal, ...
'', but she declined. The role was played by
Charlotte Gainsbourg Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg (; born 21 July 1971) is a British-French actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress Jane Birkin and French musician Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon I ...
instead. Björk starred in Gunar Karlsson's 2007 animated film ''
Anna and the Moods ''Anna and the Moods'' is a 2006 computer animated short film by the Icelandic digital design and animation company CAOZ in Reykjavík. The plot centers on a girl named Anna Young who contracts a horrible illness that makes her incredibly moody. ...
'', along with
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
and
Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...
. 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 Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
, singer Anohni, poet
Sjón image:Sjon litteratureXchange-2019 DSC09264.jpg, 260px, Sjón at LiteratureXchange Festival ín Aarhus (Denmark 2019) Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (born 27 August 1962), known as Sjón ( ; ; meaning "sight" and being an abbreviation of his firs ...
, electronic beat programmer Mark Bell, kora master
Toumani Diabaté Toumani Diabaté ( ; born 10 August 1965) is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles. I ...
, Congolese thumb piano band Konono No 1,
pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rang ...
player
Min Xiaofen Min Xiao-Fen () is a Chinese-American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz. Life Min Xiao-Fen studied with her father, Min Jiqian (闵季骞), a music profe ...
, and, on several songs, an all-female ensemble from Iceland performing
brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
compositions. It also uses the
Reactable The Reactable is an electronic musical instrument with a tabletop tangible user interface that was developed within the Music Technology Group at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain by Sergi Jordà, Marcos Alonso, Martin Kaltenbru ...
, a novel "tangible-interface" synthesizer from the
Universitat Pompeu Fabra Pompeu Fabra University ( ca, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, UPF, ; es, link=no, Universidad Pompeu Fabra) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. The university was created by the Autonomous Government of Catalo ...
in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, which on ''Volta'' is played by Damian Taylor. The first single from the album, "
Earth Intruders "Earth Intruders" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The song was released as the first single from her 2007 full-length studio album, '' Volta''. The single was released digitally in the US on 9 April and 21 April 2007 a ...
", 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 The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
with 20,456 units sold. The second single from the album, "
Innocence Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...
", was digitally released on 23 July 2007, with an accompanying music video chosen from a contest conducted through her official website. "
Declare Independence "Declare Independence" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The track was released as the third single from her sixth full-length studio album, '' Volta''. The single was released on 1 January 2008. Björk's dedication of ...
" was released on 1 January 2008 in a super deluxe package including two 12" vinyls, a CD, and a DVD featuring Gondry's "Declare Independence" video. "
Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering ...
" was subsequently released in a similar format, featuring Encyclopedia Pictura's short film directed for the track, shot in
stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the depth perception, illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stere ...
3D. The fifth single released from the album was "
The Dull Flame of Desire "The Dull Flame of Desire" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk featuring Anohni from the band Antony and the Johnsons. It was released as the fifth and final single from her seventh full-length studio album, '' Volta'', on 29 September ...
", featuring vocals by Anohni. Björk then completed the 18-month
Volta Tour The Volta Tour was a tour by the singer Björk that focused on her album, '' Volta''. Overall, 48 songs were done on the tour focusing on many tracks from ''Debut'' through to ''Vespertine'', though mostly from ''Medúlla'' and '' Volta'', the fo ...
, having performed at many festivals and returning to Latin America after nine years, playing in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
,
Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
,
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
,
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
,
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
,
Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, and
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, 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 The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
Festival. She played a one-off show at the
Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...
as part of the
Sydney Festival Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...
. Her music was featured in the 2008 documentary ''Horizons: The Art of Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir'' directed by Frank Cantor. Announced via an
eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
, a new Björk track was revealed under the title "
Náttúra "Náttúra" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The track was released as a single promoting the protection of the Icelandic environment.
". 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 Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been describe ...
. Björk's official website later stated that the single would be released on 27 October 2008 through
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
, but the track was eventually made available at nattura.grapewire.net, exclusively. In a statement released by bjork.com, a limited edition box set titled ''
Voltaïc ''Voltaïc'' refers to five separate releases of related material from musician Björk's seventh studio album '' Volta''. The full version of the release includes a CD of eleven songs performed live at the Olympic Studios, a DVD of Björk's liv ...
'' 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. In May 2010, the
Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...
announced that Björk was to receive the
Polar Music Prize The Polar Music Prize is a Swedish international award founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, best known as the manager of the Swedish band ABBA, with a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The award is annually given to one contemporary ...
alongside
Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...
. A month later, Björk, along with
Dirty Projectors Dirty Projectors is an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002. The band is the project of singer-songwriter David Longstreth, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The b ...
, announced that they would be collaborating on a joint EP, titled ''
Mount Wittenberg Orca ''Mount Wittenberg Orca'' is an EP by American indie rock band Dirty Projectors and Icelandic singer and songwriter Björk, released on June 30, 2010 in digital-only format and on CD and vinyl by Domino Records on 24 October 2011. News of the albu ...
'', which was released on 30 June, to raise money for marine conservation. In September 2010, Björk released "
The Comet Song "The Comet Song" is a song by Icelandic artist Björk, written by herself and long-time friend and collaborator Sjón as the title theme of the 2010 movie ''Moomins and the Comet Chase''. The song is released as a charity single and all the bene ...
" as part of the soundtrack for the movie ''
Moomins and the Comet Chase ''Moomins and the Comet Chase'' is a 2010 3D stop motion animated fantasy adventure comedy family film compiled from the ''Comet in Moominland''-based episodes of the 1977–1982 ''The Moomins'' TV series animated at Se-ma-for in Poland, restored a ...
''. Also in 2010, she dueted with fellow Icelander (and
One Little Indian One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In th ...
labelmate)
Ólöf Arnalds Ólöf Arnalds (born 4 January 1980) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter and indie musician who has been active within the Icelandic music scene since the early 2000s. She was a touring member of múm for five years from 2003 before launching he ...
on a track called "Surrender" from Arnalds's new album, '' Innundir skinni'', and performed a duet with Anohni on the
Antony and the Johnsons Antony and the Johnsons is an American music group presenting the work of Anohni and her collaborators. Career British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Anohni's music through his Durtro label ...
album ''
Swanlights ''Swanlights'' is the fourth studio album by Antony and the Johnsons, released on October 12, 2010 worldwide through Secretly Canadian, and October 11, 2010 in the United Kingdom through Rough Trade. To accompany the album release, the band has ...
''. The song is titled "Flétta". On 20 September 2010, Björk performed her version of "
Gloomy Sunday "Gloomy Sunday" ( Hungarian: ''Szomorú vasárnap''), also known as the "Hungarian Suicide Song", is a popular song composed by Hungarian pianist and composer Rezső Seress and published in 1933. The original lyrics were titled "Vége a vilá ...
" at designer
Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashion ...
'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. The shows are produced by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service. In the show Björk performed eight songs, including "Sun in My Mouth", which had not previously been performed live. '' Biophilia'' was released in 2011. The album project combined music with technological innovation and themes of science and nature, including an " app album", educational collaborations with children and specialised live performance, debuting in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, United Kingdom at the
Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...
on 30 June. This was the first part of the
Biophilia Tour The Biophilia Tour was the seventh concert tour by Icelandic musician Björk. The tour was centered on her multimedia project and studio album '' Biophilia'' (2011). The tour premiered at the Manchester International Festival and visited Europe, A ...
, that toured the world for two years. In June 2011, the first single from ''Biophilia'', "
Crystalline A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macrosc ...
", was released. The song was composed using one of the several instruments custom built for the project, the "gameleste", a
celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...
modified with elements of
gamelan Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. T ...
. A central part of ''Biophilia'' was a series of interactive
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
apps made by programmers and designers, one app for each of the 10 songs on the new album. The second single, "
Cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...
", which served as the "mother app" for all the others, was released on 19 July 2011, followed by "
Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...
" and "
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
". ''Biophilia'' was the first album to be released, in October 2011, as a series of interactive apps. 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. She released the 2012 remix album '' Bastards''. It featured remixes by
Death Grips Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride (vocals, lyrics), Zach Hill (drums, production, lyrics), and Andy Morin (keyboards, produ ...
and Syrian musician
Omar Souleyman Omar Souleyman ( ar, عمر سليمان) is a Syrian Arab (Timestamp-Minute 1:00) Singer from the village of Ra's al-'Ayn near the Syria–Turkey border but grew up in the city of Tell Tamer. He started his career as a part-time wedding singer i ...
. In 2013, Björk featured in a
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
documentary along with Sir
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
called ''
When Björk Met Attenborough ''When Björk Met Attenborough'' is a 2013 documentary television film directed by Louise Hooper, executive produced by Lucas Ochoa and produced by Caroline Page. It was aired for the first time on 27 July 2013 on Channel 4, in conjunction with ...
'', 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 Oliver Wolf Sacks, (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in Britain, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford, before moving to the Uni ...
. In 2014, the apps were the first ever to be inducted into the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
's permanent collection. In June, Björk recorded original vocal samples for
Death Grips Death Grips is an American experimental hip hop group formed in 2010 in Sacramento, California. The group consists of Stefan Burnett, also known as MC Ride (vocals, lyrics), Zach Hill (drums, production, lyrics), and Andy Morin (keyboards, produ ...
, which they used on all 8 songs of ''Niggas on the Moon'', the first part of their double LP, ''
The Powers That B ''The Powers That B'' is the fourth studio album, and first double album, by experimental hip hop group Death Grips. The album's first disc, ''Niggas on the Moon'', was released as a free digital download on June 8, 2014. The first disc's instr ...
''. In late 2014, a concert film, '' Björk: Biophilia Live'', was released worldwide, including in more than 400 cinemas. Björk worked with producers Arca and
the Haxan Cloak Bobby Krlic (born 20 December 1985), known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician. The Haxan Cloak has released two full-length albums (2011's ''The Haxan Cloak'' and 2013's '' Excavation' ...
on her ninth studio album, titled ''
Vulnicura ''Vulnicura'' is the eighth studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings befo ...
''. 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. In an effort to salvage potential losses in sales due to the leak and to allow fans to hear the album in superior quality, it was made available worldwide on 20 January 2015 on iTunes. ''Vulnicura'' is a portrayal of her breakup with former partner,
Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
with lyrics that are emotionally raw in comparison to the abstract concerns of her previous album. Its surprise release was positively compared to recent album releases from
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
and
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
, the former of whom also released her album to iTunes after being leaked, and the latter of whom wanted to revolutionize how albums were released and consumed. Björk began her world tour in March 2015 at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
performing "Black Lake" and other tracks from ''Vulnicura'' as well as several from her back catalog with accompaniment from the ensemble
Alarm Will Sound Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the ''Financial Times' ...
, Arca on electronics (on festival dates
the Haxan Cloak Bobby Krlic (born 20 December 1985), known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, is a British composer, artist, music producer and musician. The Haxan Cloak has released two full-length albums (2011's ''The Haxan Cloak'' and 2013's '' Excavation' ...
took over) and percussionist
Manu Delago Manu Delago (born 31 July 1984) is an Austrian Hang player, percussionist and composer based in London. Biography Delago was born in Innsbruck, Tyrol, and took music lessons as a child in accordion and piano. As a teenager he mainly played dru ...
. After completing its New York residency, the tour travelled to Europe before ending in August 2015.New York's
MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...
hosted a
retrospective exhibition A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...
from 8 March – 7 June 2015 that chronicled Björk's career from ''Debut'' to ''Biophilia''; however, aspects of ''Vulnicura'' were included as well but not previously announced. The retrospective consisted of 4 parts: the ''Biophilia'' instruments (Tesla coil,
MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
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 Andrew Thomas Huang is a Chinese-American visual artist and film director known for his music videos for artists Björk, FKA twigs and Atoms for Peace. In 2019, Huang was nominated for a Grammy for his music video for FKA twigs - "Cellophane." ...
, 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. 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. It is the same version on display at MoMA earlier that year. On 2 October 2015, ''
Vulnicura Strings ''Vulnicura Strings (The Acoustic Versions – Strings, Voice and Viola Organista Only)'', or simply ''Vulnicura Strings'', is an acoustic album released by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk as a companion to her 2015 album, ''Vulnicura''. ''Vu ...
'' was announced. The album serves as a purely acoustic companion to ''Vulnicura'', and features additional string arrangements plus the
viola organista The viola organista is a musical instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci. It uses a friction belt to vibrate individual strings (similar to how a violin produces sounds), with the strings selected by pressing keys on a keyboard (similar to an or ...
, a unique string instrument played on a keyboard designed by
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
. It was released on 6 November 2015 on CD and digital and 4 December 2015 on vinyl. A week later, ''
Vulnicura Live ''Vulnicura Live'' is a live album by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk featuring 14 songs performed during her 2015 Vulnicura Tour. The original release was available exclusively through Rough Trade record shops in very limited quantities and ...
'' 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. On 7 December 2015, ''Vulnicura'' was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...
. On 15 July 2016, a standard "commercial" edition of ''Vulnicura Live'' was released, featuring the same performances but newly mixed and with different artwork. A luxury version of ''Vulnicura Live'' was released on 23 September. The performance of "Come to Me" from the album was also included in the box set ''7-inches for
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...
'' in support of the women's health organization. Björk launched ''
Björk Digital ''Björk Digital'' is an "immersive" virtual reality exhibit by Icelandic musician Björk featuring 360-degree VR music videos from her eighth studio album, ''Vulnicura''. The exhibit debuted at Carriageworks in Sydney, Australia as part of th ...
'' 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 Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Railway Workshops in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being used for filming, festivals, fa ...
for Vivid Sydney 2016 in Sydney, Australia. She DJ'd the opening night party and did the same when the show traveled to Tokyo, Japan on 29 June, showing at Miraikan. During the Miraikan residency, Björk made history by featuring in the world's first ever virtual reality live stream broadcast on YouTube. She gave a live performance of ''Vulnicura's'' final song "Quicksand", and the footage was incorporated into the "Quicksand" VR experience. ''Björk Digital'' has travelled 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 ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a bi-monthly British style magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. Dazed is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for producing ...
''s autumn 2017 cover issue in which Björk talked about the new album. The lead single, " The Gate" was released on 15 September 2017. Its accompanying video was directed by visual artist
Andrew Thomas Huang Andrew Thomas Huang is a Chinese-American visual artist and film director known for his music videos for artists Björk, FKA twigs and Atoms for Peace. In 2019, Huang was nominated for a Grammy for his music video for FKA twigs - "Cellophane." ...
. The same day of the single's release, Björk announced the album's title, ''Utopia'', during an interview with
Nowness Nowness (stylized NOWNESS) is a digital video channel that was launched in 2010 by its founder Jefferson Hack as a brand of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.
. ''
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
'' was released on 24 November 2017. She described it as her "
Tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...
album" and stated that "it's about that search (for utopia) – and about being in love. Spending time with a person you enjoy is when the dream becomes real." Björk added that her previous album was "hell" – it was like divorce!", stating, "So we eredoing paradise ..We have done hell, we have earned some points." She produced the album with Arca, whom she collaborated with on ''Vulnicura''. Björk has described her collaborative journey with Arca as "the strongest musical relationship
he's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
had", likening it to that of
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
and
Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...
during the albums ''
Hejira The Hijrah or Hijra () was the journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina. The year in which the Hijrah took place is also identified as the epoch of the Lunar Hijri and Solar Hijri calendars; its date e ...
'' and ''
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter ''Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'' is a 1977 double album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Her ninth album, it is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz-influenced sound of Mitchell's previous recordings. ...
'' ("It's that synergy when two people lose their ego"), which have both been praised by Björk. Three additional music videos were released in 2017: "
Blissing Me "Blissing Me" is the second single from Icelandic singer Björk's ninth album, ''Utopia'', released on 14 November 2017 via One Little Indian Records. The song was written by Björk and produced by Björk and Arca. A two-track remix EP followed ...
", "Utopia" and "
Arisen My Senses "Arisen My Senses" is the third single from Icelandic singer Björk's ninth studio album, ''Utopia'', released digitally on 21 March 2018. A "slug genitalia-coloured" vinyl remix EP was released months later on 25 May. The song was written and pr ...
" with the former and latter also receiving limited edition remix EPs. ''Utopia'' was nominated for
Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...
at the
61st Annual Grammy Awards The 61st Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 10, 2019, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hosted. During her opening monologue, Keys brought out Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Lopez, and fo ...
, making Björk's fifteenth nomination at the Grammys. On 22 May 2018, Björk appeared as the headlining musical guest on '' Later... with Jools Holland'', her first time on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
series since 2011. 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. On 12 November 2018, Björk announced a new concert production centered around her ''Utopia'' album, entitled
Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...
. Björk described the show as one "where the acoustic and digital will shake hands". 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." The
residency show A concert residency (also known as musical residency or simply residency) is a series of concerts, similar to a concert tour, but only performed at one location. Pollstar, ''Pollstar'' Awards defined residency as a run of 10 or more shows at a s ...
then traveled to Mexico and Europe for further dates in 2019. Following the performances, Björk released music videos for "Tabula Rasa" and "Losss", both directed by Tobias Gremmler and used as backdrop during the shows. On 16 August 2019, Björk announced the ''Utopia Bird Call Boxset'', a box set meant to celebrate the end of the album cycle which 14 wooden flutes that imitate various bird calls and a USB stick featuring the digital albums, music videos and remixes, alongside an unreleased instrumental track, "Arpegggio". On 6 September 2019, two remixes of "Features Creatures" were released as digital singles, one by
Fever Ray Karin Elisabeth Dreijer (born 7 April 1975) is a Swedish singer-songwriter and record producer. Dreijer was one half of the electronic music duo the Knife, formed with their brother Olof Dreijer. Dreijer released their debut solo album under ...
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 ''Country Creatures'' is a collaborative Remix album, remix extended play (EP) by Icelandic musician Björk; Swedish musician Karin Dreijer under their alias Fever Ray; and electronic music duo the Knife, consisting of Dreijer and their brother, D ...
''. 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. The song is included on Arca's fourth studio album ''
KiCk i ''Kick I'' (stylized as ''KiCk i''; pronounced "kick one") is the fourth studio album by Venezuelan electronic record producer Arca. Recorded between Barcelona and London, the album was released on 26 June 2020 through XL Recordings. ''Kick I'' ...
'', which was released on June 26, 2020. Björk is currently set to embark on her eleventh concert tour, called
Björk Orkestral Björk Orkestral is an "unplugged" concert series by Icelandic musician Björk. Originally announced for the summer of 2020, all concert dates were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A four-part concert series was later announced for August 2 ...
, in which she will perform orchestral arrangements of songs from her career so far. As part of the tour, Björk was scheduled to perform at the
Bluedot Festival Bluedot is a music, science and culture event held annually in July since 2016 at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, England, combining music, live science experiments, expert talks and immersive artworks. The event is endorsed by the Unive ...
in July 2020; however, the event was postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and she is now scheduled to headline in 2022. Following the rescheduling, Björk announced a series of concerts to be
live streamed Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but ...
online for charity, with each concert featuring a different set of musicians and instruments and a unique set list. In August 2020, Björk joined the cast of ''
The Northman ''The Northman'' is a 2022 American Epic film, epic Historical fiction, historical action thriller film directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth, the film stars Alexander Skarsgård (who ...
'', the third feature film by
Robert Eggers Robert Houston Eggers (born July 7, 1983) is an American filmmaker, director, and production designer. He is best known for writing and directing the historical horror films ''The Witch (2015 film), The Witch'' (2015) and ''The Lighthouse (2019 f ...
, co-written with
Sjón image:Sjon litteratureXchange-2019 DSC09264.jpg, 260px, Sjón at LiteratureXchange Festival ín Aarhus (Denmark 2019) Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson (born 27 August 1962), known as Sjón ( ; ; meaning "sight" and being an abbreviation of his firs ...
, alongside her daughter Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney, in her debut film role. It was released on April 22, 2022, in the United States. In an interview with ''
The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiar ...
'' published on 19 January 2022, Björk mentioned that she was wrapping up work on her upcoming tenth studio album. She revealed in an interview with ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', published on 19 August 2022, that the new album is called ''
Fossora ''Fossora'' is the tenth studio album by Icelandic singer-musician Björk. It was released on 30 September 2022 through One Little Independent Records. The album was recorded mainly during the COVID-19 pandemic and centers around the theme of is ...
'', a Latin word for "digging". ''Fossora'' was released on 30 September 2022. It was supported by four singles: "
Atopos ''Atopos'' is a genus of carnivorous air-breathing land slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Rathouisiidae. Species Species within the genus ''Atopos'' include: * ''Atopos aborense'' (Ghosh, 1913) *'' Atopos australis'' ...
" on 6 September 2022, "
Ovule In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...
" on 14 September, "
Ancestress An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
" 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 Oddný Eir Ævarsdóttir (born 1972) is an Icelandic writer. She has written three autobiographical novels, her best-known work being ''Jarðnæði'' (''Land of love; plan of ruins'') which was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Award in 2011 ...
and musicologist Ásmundur Jónsson; the first three episodes of the podcast, covering ''Debut'', ''Post'' and ''Homogenic'', premiered on 1 September.


Artistry


Style

Over her three-decade solo career, Björk has developed an
eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...
and
avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
musical style that incorporates aspects of electronic,
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
alternative dance Alternative dance (also known as indie dance or underground dance in the U.S.) is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained American and worldwide expos ...
, trip hop,
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
,
glitch A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...
, jazz, alternative rock,
instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
, and
contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...
. Her music has since been subject to critical analysis and scrutiny, as she consistently defies categorization in a musical genre. Although she often calls herself a pop artist, she is considered a "restlessly experimental creative force." According to ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''s
Taylor Ho Bynum Taylor Ho Bynum (born 1975) is a musician, composer, educator and writer. His main instrument is the cornet, but he also plays numerous similar instruments, including flugelhorn and trumpet. Early life Bynum was born in BaltimoreWilmoth, Charli" ...
, "no contemporary artist so gracefully bridges the divide etween music experimentalist and pop celebrityas Björk." Her album ''
Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...
'', which incorporated
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 ...
,
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, and
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
, has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop. Her work has been described as "frequently explor ngthe relationship between nature and technology." 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 ''Artpop'' (stylized in all caps) is the third studio album by American singer Lady Gaga. It was released on November 6, 2013, by Streamline and Interscope Records. Gaga began planning the project in 2011, shortly after the launch of her second ...
." The ''
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 ...
'' also called her output a "consistently
progressive pop Progressive pop is pop music that attempts to break with the genre's standard formula, or an offshoot of the progressive rock genre that was commonly heard on AM radio in the 1970s and 1980s. It was originally termed for the early progressive ...
agenda." 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.


Evolution

During her career beginnings, Björk performed in bands from various musical genres: punk rock in Spit and Snot,
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
in Exodus,
post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...
in Tappi Tíkarrass and
gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
in Kukl. When working with Tappi Tíkarrass, she was heavily influenced by British new wave bands such as
Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...
,
Wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is c ...
, the Passions,
the Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...
,
Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...
, and
Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...
. The studio album ''
Gling-Gló ''Gling-Gló'' is the only studio album by Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, consisting of Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason o ...
'' (1990) was recorded with
Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar ( Eng.: Guðmundur Ingólfsson's Trio) was an Icelandic bebop group and a piano trio, long since disbanded, following the death of its leader, pianist Guðmundur Ingólfsson in 1991. The other two members of the trio ...
and featured jazz and popular standards sung "very much in the classic
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
and
Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...
mould." The Sugarcubes' style has been described as
avant-pop Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental music, experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener. The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing ele ...
and
alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
. Although Björk was in various post-punk and alternative rock bands during the late 1980s, her contact with London's underground
club culture Clubbing (also known as club culture, related to raving) is the activity of visiting and gathering socially at nightclubs (discotheques, discos or just clubs) and festivals. That includes socializing, listening to music, dancing, drinking alcohol a ...
helped her find her own musical identity. ''Debut'', released in 1993, has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop. 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." However, in a ''Rolling Stone'' interview she also stated that she was more influenced the sensual and groundbreaking ambient music formerly found in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
and
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
. The music of ''Debut'' reflects the contemporary musical environment of London, where jörklived in the early 1990s, especially the burgeoning
trip-hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos ...
scene of bands like Portishead and
Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...
. Michael Cragg of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' has described it as an "indefinable conflation of
electronic pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
, trip-hop, world music and otherworldly lyrics"; while ''
The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...
''s Mandi James said it was "a delightful fusion of
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...
, jazz, funk and
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
, with the odd dash of
exotica Exotica is a musical genre, named after the 1957 Martin Denny album of the same name that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records ...
thrown in for good measure." The 1995 album ''Post'', known for its
eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in ...
, is considered to be the "quintessential Björk" release, due to its protean form – more than any of her albums – and its "wide emotional palette". 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. ''The Guardian'' wrote that "''Post'' tapped into the vortex of
multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
energy that was mid-90s
London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where she had relocated and where strange hybrids such as
jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...
and
trip-hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tempos ...
were bubbling." ''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. While the "distant echoes" of IDM and trip-hop were present in ''Debut'', ''Post'' is characterised by Björk's fuller incorporation of these styles. Referred to as a "
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
roulette" by the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'', Available a
bjork.fr
/ref> it touches on various musical styles, including
industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...
,
big-band jazz A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...
, trip-hop,
chillout Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...
, and
experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...
. 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. With her 1997 album ''Homogenic'', Björk intended to make a simple, one-flavoured record, in contrast with her previous releases. Conceptually focused on her native
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 ...
, the album is a "fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
and
glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...
". Björk incorporated a traditional singing method used by Icelandic choir men, a combination of speaking and singing as illustrated in the song " Unravel". While ''Homogenic'' still showed Björk's inclination towards electronic dance-music and
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...
-futurism, Neva Chonin of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' reflected on how the album was has steered away from the "sweet melodies and peppy dance collages of her earlier releases." 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. However, ''Vespertine'' differed from ''Homogenic'' in its greater interest in intimacy and sexuality (the result of her new relationship with artist
Matthew Barney Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
), with sharper melodies, minimalistic production and explicit lyrics inspired by poetry of
E.E. Cummings Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...
and
Sarah Kane Sarah Kane (3 February 1971 – 20 February 1999) was an English playwright, screenwriter and theatre director. She is known for her plays that deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture—both physical and psychological ...
's play ''
Crave __NOTOC__ Crave or Craving may refer to: Entertainment and media Companies and services * Crave (streaming service), a Canadian video-on-demand streaming service * Crave (TV network), a Canadian linear pay TV service operated in conjunction with ...
''. ''Vespertine'' is also characterised by a newfound obsession with the auditory of analog technology, with a prevalent usage of loops, static and
white noise In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used, with this or similar meanings, in many scientific and technical disciplines, ...
, paradoxically contrasting the advancement of digital technology occurring in the 21st century; thus, elements of
glitch music Glitch is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the 1990s. It is distinguished by the deliberate use of glitch-based audio media and other sonic artifacts. The glitching sounds featured in glitch tracks usually come from audio recording de ...
have been identified. Unlike previous albums like ''
Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...
'' and ''
Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
'', electronic sounds has gained more prevalence, while the acoustic sounds are used as interjections. 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. Björk's 2004 studio album, ''Medúlla'', is almost entirely constructed with human vocals, with a vast scope of influences ranging from elements of folk to
medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissance ...
. ''
Wondering Sound eMusic is an online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. In exchange for a monthly subscription eMusic users can download a fixed number of MP3 tracks per month. eMusic was established in 1998, is headquartered in New York Cit ...
'' wrote that despite "its comparative starkness, 'Medúlla'' isevery bit as sensual as 'Vespertine''" The publication also added: "The electronic treatments range from industrial distortion to percussive
glitch A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system, such as a transient fault that corrects itself, making it difficult to troubleshoot. The term is particularly common in the computing and electronics industries, in circuit bending, as well as among ...
es and dreamy layering, rarely descending into novelty." The album combines
beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.
, classical choirs that suggest composers like
Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...
or
Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in pa ...
, and "mews, moans, counterpoint and guttural grunts" provided by Björk and guests like
Mike Patton Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, producer, film composer and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band Faith No More. Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techni ...
,
Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is a retired English musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...
and
Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
. ''Medúlla'' includes "vocal fantasias" that lean toward
chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
, alongside tracks that "are obviously but distantly connected to hip-hop." Glimpses of Bulgarian women's choirs, the
polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...
of central African
pygmies In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...
, and the "primal vocalisms" of
Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording ...
were also noted. ''Volta'', released in 2007, received coverage after the inclusion of R&B producer
Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...
; however, ''NME'' wrote that "this is not Björk 'going hip-hop' or having a late-breaking pop reinvention." 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. Björk wanted the album's beats to be "effortless, primitive,
lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...
style", in contrast with ''Vespertine''. It combines a large
brass ensemble Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...
with live and programmed drums and "ethnic instruments" like
likembé Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...
,
pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rang ...
and kora. ''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". ''Biophilia'', of 2011, showcases Björk's more avant-garde tendencies, drawing comparisons to Stockhausen and Nico's 1969 album, ''
The Marble Index ''The Marble Index'' is the second studio album by the German musician Nico, released in November 1968 on Elektra Records. The avant-garde sound introduced in the album—a stark contrast with her folk pop debut, '' Chelsea Girl'' (1967)—was th ...
''. The track ''Moon'' mesmerisingly encapsulates the comprehensive progress made across her previous works with metaphorical lyrics of natural phenomena and their impact on humans. The music in ''Vulnicura'', her 2015 album, is centered on Björk's voice, orchestral strings and electronic beats. This combination was already present in ''Homogenic'', certainly the consequence of the common topics treated by both albums: "heartbreak and perseverance". 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 Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...
, ''Volta's'' brass, ''Medulla's'' voices and ''Biophilia's'' choir. 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. 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 10 albums.


Influences

While Björk said that she was influenced by "Everything", she has name-dropped
Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
,
Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
,
Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
and Mark Bell as some of the people who influenced her the most. Some "confessional singer-songwriters" Björk commends include
Abida Parveen Abida Parveen (Urdu, sd, ; born 20 February 1954) is a Pakistani singer, composer and musician of Sufi music. She is also a painter and entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music has earned he ...
,
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...
,
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...
and
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
; with the latter being a definitive influence in her career. Mitchell also inspired her to write her own songs, saying that Mitchell "created her own emale musical universe, and found it "very liberating." According to ''
Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
'': "a lot of Björk's early influences were books (
George Bataille Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (; ; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French philosopher and intellectual working in philosophy, literature, sociology, anthropology, and history of art. His writing, which included essays, novels ...
's ''
Story of the Eye ''Story of the Eye'' (french: L'histoire de l'œil) is a 1928 novella written by Georges Bataille that details the increasingly bizarre sexual perversions of a pair of teenage lovers, including an early depiction of omorashi fetishism in Weste ...
'',
Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Soviet writer, medical doctor, and playwright active in the fir ...
's ''
The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐf ...
'') and films (''
Tampopo is a 1985 Japanese comedy film written and directed by Juzo Itami, and starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Kōji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe. The publicity for the film calls it the first "ramen western", a play on the term Spaghetti Weste ...
'', ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', ''
The Tin Drum ''The Tin Drum'' (german: Die Blechtrommel, ) is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. The novel is the first book of Grass's ' (''Danzig Trilogy''). It was adapted into a 1979 film, which won both the 1979 Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best ...
'') available internationally. ..But talk about Iceland and you're getting to the heart of the matter, the source of her spirited outlook on life." During her formative years at music school, Björk became interested in avant-garde, classical, and
minimalistic music Minimal music (also called minimalism)"Minimalism in music has been defined as an aesthetic, a style, and a technique, each of which has been a suitable description of the term at certain points in the development of minimal music. However, two o ...
; also becoming a "jazz freak". Although her music is more consistently tonal and has more crossover appeal, she is considered indebted to avant-garde composers
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
,
Meredith Monk Meredith Jane Monk (born November 20, 1942) is an American composer, performer, director, vocalist, filmmaker, and choreographer. From the 1960s onwards, Monk has created multi-disciplinary works which combine music, theatre, and dance, recording ...
,
Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific out ...
and
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
. In a 2008 article for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 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." Early in her career, Björk cited
Sir David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
as her biggest musical influence, saying "she identified with his thirst for exploring new and wild territories." She also stated that she " ikesto discover sounds I had never heard before."


Voice

Björk is a
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
, with a
range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...
spanning from E3 to D6. Her singing voice has been described as both "elastic" and "somersaulting" in quality as well as being praised for her
scatting In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...
ability, unique vocal stylings and delivery. In a review for her live performance at the 2011
Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first taking ...
, Bernadette McNulty of ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' commented, "the 45-year-old still uses electronic dance beats with a full-blooded raver's passion and the elemental
timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...
of her voice has grown more powerful with age". 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". However, in a review for ''Biophilia'',
Kitty Empire Kitty Empire is the pen name of a British writer and music critic, currently writing for ''The Observer''. Early life Empire says that she was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 and brought up in Canada, Italy and Egypt before arriving in Britai ...
of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' stated that pre-surgery Björk still sounded strong, commenting that her voice was "spectacular and swooping", particularly on the song "Thunderbolt". In a similar vein, Matthew Cole of ''
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' 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".
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
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 ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', who praised her voice as being unique, fresh and extremely versatile, fitting and being influenced by a wide range of influences and genres.


Personal life

When forming
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 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. They had divorced before the end of 1986, but continued to work together in the band.


Move to London and Spain

Following the breakup of the Sugarcubes, Björk moved to
London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where she was immediately offered a record deal. She became engaged to London-based DJ
Goldie Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ. Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in th ...
, but broke up with him in 1996. She also had a brief relationship with musician Tricky in the 1990s. During this period, she became involved with the
trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...
scene with which Goldie and Tricky were associated. Björk also began her work with fashion designer
Alexander McQueen Lee Alexander McQueen CBE (17 March 1969 – 11 February 2010) was a British fashion designer and couturier. He founded his own Alexander McQueen label in 1992, and was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. His achievements in fashion ...
. As a result of her time spent in London, Björk developed a
cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or b ...
accent, evident in her interviews given in English at the time. 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 Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the r ...
,
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
, where she produced ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylist ...
'' (1997).


Paparazzi confrontations

In February 1996, Björk arrived at Bangkok International Airport with her son Sindri after a
long-haul flight In aviation, the flight length refers to the distance of a flight. Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by commercial airlines based on flight length, although there is no international standard definition and ...
. 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 Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
, 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. On 13 January 2008, Björk attacked a photographer who had photographed her arrival at
Auckland International Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and List of the busiest airports in New Zealand, busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airp ...
for her scheduled performance at the
Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...
festival. Björk allegedly tore the photographer's shirt down the back, and in the process she fell to the ground. Neither the photographer nor his employer, ''
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'', lodged a formal complaint, and Auckland police did not investigate further.


Ricardo López

On 12 September 1996, Ricardo López, a mentally ill, obsessed American fan of Björk, mailed a
letter bomb A letter bomb, also called parcel bomb, mail bomb, package bomb, note bomb, message bomb, gift bomb, present bomb, delivery bomb, surprise bomb, postal bomb, or post bomb, is an explosive device sent via the postal service, and designed with t ...
loaded with
sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...
to Björk's London home, before returning home and filming his suicide in the final part of a disturbing video diary. In her few public comments on this event, Björk said she was "very distressed" by the incident, 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." She sent a card and flowers to López's family. She left for Spain, where she recorded the remainder of her third album, ''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylist ...
'', away from media attention. She also hired security for her son, Sindri, who was escorted to school with a minder. 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." 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 Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
in the art scene. The pair formed a relationship and started living together, moving to
Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south, an ...
in 2000. 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 ''Drawing Restraint 9'' is a 2005 film project by visual artist Matthew Barney consisting of a feature-length film, large-scale sculptures, photographs, drawings, and books. The Drawing Restraint series consists of 19 numbered components and relat ...
'', a long-term project released in 2005; Björk acted in the film and also contributed musical elements. The couple broke up in 2013. At the time, she described it as "the most painful thing" that she had ever experienced. The album ''
Vulnicura ''Vulnicura'' is the eighth studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings befo ...
'', and in particular the track "Black Lake", were written about the breakup. Björk began to reside half of each year in Brooklyn Heights and the other half in two residences in Iceland with her daughter.


Other ventures


Charitable work

After the
tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
that struck
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
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 UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
's work in the southeast Asian region. Björk visited
Banda Aceh Banda Aceh ( Acehnese: ''Banda Acèh'', Jawoë: كوتا بند اچيه) is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra and has an elevation of . The city covers an area of and had ...
in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami. On 2 July 2005, Björk took part in the
Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...
series of concerts, headlining the Live 8 concert, Chiba, Japan show with Do As Infinity, Good Charlotte and McFly. She performed eight songs with
Matmos Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their per ...
, a Japanese String instrument, string Octet (music), octet, and
Zeena Parkins Zeena Parkins (born 1956) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist active in experimental, free improvised, contemporary classical, and avant-jazz music; she is known for having "reinvented the harp". Parkins performs on standard harp ...
.


Political activity

Björk's years in Kukl aligned her with the anarchist Crass Collective. While she has since been hesitant to be seen as an overtly political figure, and has said so on her website,"Statement"
, ''björk.com/news 2008'', 4 March 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2008.
she is supportive of numerous liberation movements, including Kosovo independence precedent, independence for Kosovo. She dedicated her song "
Declare Independence "Declare Independence" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The track was released as the third single from her sixth full-length studio album, '' Volta''. The single was released on 1 January 2008. Björk's dedication of ...
" 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, her upcoming performance at Serbia's Exit (festival), 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 of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Culture issued a denunciation through state news agency Xinhua 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." In 2014, Björk created a Facebook post dedicating the song to the people of Scotland as they neared the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, referendum on their independence. In October 2017, she posted a Twitter, tweet dedicating the song to Catalonia on the occasion of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, Catalan independence referendum. 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. She founded the organisation Náttúra, which aims to promote Icelandic nature and grassroots industries. 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. In collaboration with Audur Capital, she set up a venture capital fund titled BJÖRK to support the creation of sustainable industries in Iceland. 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 Alterra Power, HS Orka. 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), Harpa Concert Hall, at which she performed three songs. The concert initially raised $310,000 and went on to raise £3 million overall, with plans to use the money to establish a national park.


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 Keyboard instrument, keyboards and provide backing vocals on Björk's first international solo Debut Tour, 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 (record label), Warp Records. 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 Graham Vernon Massey (born 4 August 1960 in Manchester) is a British record producer, musician, and remixer. Early career He was a member of experimental jazz rock group Biting Tongues, once signed to Factory Records. After recording with the ...
(of the British electronica act
808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' New ...
). 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 ''Medúlla'' is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her electron ...
''. Magga still performs and records in Iceland. In 2001, Björk became aware of Canadian Inuit throat singing, Inuit throat singer
Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#Tany ...
and invited her to perform on several dates of Björk's
Vespertine World Tour The Vespertine World Tour was a tour by the singer Björk that focused on her album ''Vespertine''. She also performed songs from ''Debut'', ''Post'', ''Homogenic'' and ''Selmasongs''. She performed 35 shows on this tour and 31 different songs. Th ...
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 music, lo-fi, homemade electro (music), 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 HK119 (album), debut album in 2006. HK119 and Björk appeared in a joint interview in ''Dazed, 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." HK119 later released her albums ''Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (album), 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 Ólöf Arnalds (born 4 January 1980) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter and indie musician who has been active within the Icelandic music scene since the early 2000s. She was a touring member of múm for five years from 2003 before launching he ...
, 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 Omar Souleyman ( ar, عمر سليمان) is a Syrian Arab (Timestamp-Minute 1:00) Singer from the village of Ra's al-'Ayn near the Syria–Turkey border but grew up in the city of Tell Tamer. He started his career as a part-time wedding singer i ...
. She later used her website to host the premiere of Micachu's debut video for Rough Trade Records, "Turn Me Well".


Discography

*''
Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Debu ...
'' (1993) *''
Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
'' (1995) *''
Homogenic ''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylist ...
'' (1997) *''
Vespertine ''Vespertine'' is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 27 August 2001 in the United Kingdom by One Little Independent Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Production on the album ...
'' (2001) *''
Medúlla ''Medúlla'' is the fifth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 30 August 2004 in the United Kingdom by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. After the release of her electron ...
'' (2004) *'' Volta'' (2007) *'' Biophilia'' (2011) *''
Vulnicura ''Vulnicura'' is the eighth studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings befo ...
'' (2015) *''
Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...
'' (2017) *''
Fossora ''Fossora'' is the tenth studio album by Icelandic singer-musician Björk. It was released on 30 September 2022 through One Little Independent Records. The album was recorded mainly during the COVID-19 pandemic and centers around the theme of is ...
'' (2022)


Filmography

*'' The Juniper Tree'' (1990) *''
Dancer in the Dark ''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical drama film written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
'' (2000) *''
Drawing Restraint 9 ''Drawing Restraint 9'' is a 2005 film project by visual artist Matthew Barney consisting of a feature-length film, large-scale sculptures, photographs, drawings, and books. The Drawing Restraint series consists of 19 numbered components and relat ...
'' (2005) *''
The Northman ''The Northman'' is a 2022 American Epic film, epic Historical fiction, historical action thriller film directed by Robert Eggers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sjón. Based on the legend of Amleth, the film stars Alexander Skarsgård (who ...
'' (2022)


Tours

* Debut Tour (1993–1994) * Post Tour (1995–1997) * Homogenic Tour (1997–1999) *
Vespertine World Tour The Vespertine World Tour was a tour by the singer Björk that focused on her album ''Vespertine''. She also performed songs from ''Debut'', ''Post'', ''Homogenic'' and ''Selmasongs''. She performed 35 shows on this tour and 31 different songs. Th ...
(2001) * Greatest Hits Tour (Björk), Greatest Hits Tour (2003) *
Volta Tour The Volta Tour was a tour by the singer Björk that focused on her album, '' Volta''. Overall, 48 songs were done on the tour focusing on many tracks from ''Debut'' through to ''Vespertine'', though mostly from ''Medúlla'' and '' Volta'', the fo ...
(2007–2008) *
Biophilia Tour The Biophilia Tour was the seventh concert tour by Icelandic musician Björk. The tour was centered on her multimedia project and studio album '' Biophilia'' (2011). The tour premiered at the Manchester International Festival and visited Europe, A ...
(2011–2013) * Vulnicura Tour (2015–2017) * Utopia Tour (Björk concert tour), Utopia Tour (2018) *
Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...
(2019–2023) *
Björk Orkestral Björk Orkestral is an "unplugged" concert series by Icelandic musician Björk. Originally announced for the summer of 2020, all concert dates were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A four-part concert series was later announced for August 2 ...
(2021–2023)


Bibliography

* ''
Um Úrnat frá Björk ''Um Úrnat frá Björk'' (in English, ''About Úrnat from Björk'') is an Icelandic fairy tale and poetry book by Björk. It was released by Smekkleysa Bad Taste (known as Smekkleysa in Icelandic, literally ''Tastelessness'') is one of Ice ...
'' (1994) * ''Post'' (1995) * ''Björk (book), Björk/Björk as a book'' (2001) * ''Live Book'' (2003) * ''Biophilia – Manual Edition'' (2011) * ''Biophilia Live'' (2012) * '' Björk: Archives'' (2015) * ''34 Scores for Piano, Organ, Harpsichord and Celeste'' (2017)


Awards and nominations

On 26 April 1997, Björk received the award of the
Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...
.


See also

* Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar * Kraumur – a music fund of which Björk 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 * Vegvísir – Björk's largest tattoo, located on her left arm * List of Icelandic writers


References


Citations


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

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