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 voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public persona, she has developed an eclectic musical style over a career spanning four decades, drawing on electronica, pop, dance, trip hop, jazz, and avant-garde music. She is one of the most influential pioneers in electronic and experimental music.

Born and raised in Reykjavík, Björk began her music career at the age of 11 and gained international recognition as the lead singer of the alternative rock band the Sugarcubes by the age of 21. After the Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992, Björk gained prominence as a solo artist with her albums '' Debut'' (1993), '' Post'' (1995), and ''Homogenic'' (1997), collaborating with artists from a range of disciplines and genres, and exploring a variety of multimedia projects. Her later albums consist of '' Vespertine'' (2001), '' Medúlla'' (2004), '' Volta'' (2007), '' Biophilia'' (2011), '' Vulnicura'' (2015), ''Utopia'' (2017) and '' Fossora'' (2022).

With sales of over 40 million records worldwide, Björk is one of the best-selling alternative artists of all time. Several of her albums have reached the top 20 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Thirty-one of her singles have reached the top 40 on pop charts around the world, with 22 top 40 hits in the UK, including the top-10 singles " It's Oh So Quiet", " Army of Me", and " Hyperballad" and the top-20 singles " Play Dead", " Big Time Sensuality", and " Violently Happy". Her accolades and awards include the Order of the Falcon, five BRIT Awards, and 16 Grammy nominations. In 2015, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. ''Rolling Stone'' named her the 64th-greatest singer and the 81st- greatest songwriter of all time in 2023.

Björk starred in the 2000 Lars von Trier film ''Dancer in the Dark'', for which she won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "I've Seen It All". Björk has also been an advocate for environmental causes in Iceland. A retrospective exhibition dedicated to Björk was held at New York's Museum of Modern Art in 2015.

Life and career

1965–1984: Early life and career beginnings

Björk Guðmundsdóttir was born on 21 November 1965 in Reykjavík. She was raised by her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir (7 October 1946 25 October 2018), an activist who protested against the development of Iceland's Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant, having divorced from Björk's father, Guðmundur Gunnarsson, an electrician and union leader, after Björk was born. She and her mother moved into a commune. Her stepfather is Sævar Árnason, a former guitarist in the band Pops.

At six, Björk enrolled at Reykjavík school , where she studied classical piano and flute. She also went to school with the father of fellow Icelandic singer Laufey. After a school recital in which Björk sang Tina Charles's 1976 hit " I Love to Love", her teachers sent a recording of her singing the song to the RÚV radio station, which at that time was Iceland's only radio station. The recording was broadcast nationally and, after hearing it, a representative of the Fálkinn record label offered Björk a recording contract. Her debut record, ''Björk'', considered juvenilia, 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 group, Exodus, collaborated in another group, JAM80, and graduated from music school. In 1981, she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another group, Tappi Tíkarrass ("Cork the Bitch's Ass" in Icelandic), and released the EP '' Bitið fast í vitið'' ("Bite Hard Into the Mind" in Icelandic), in August 1982. Their album '' Miranda'' was released in December 1983. The group was featured in the documentary '' Rokk í Reykjavík'', with Björk being featured on the cover of the VHS release. Around this time, Björk met guitarist Þór Eldon and surrealist group Medusa, which also included poet Sjón, with whom she started a lifelong collaboration and formed a group, Rokka Rokka Drum. She described her time as part of Medusa as "a gorgeous D.I.Y. organic university: extreme fertility!" Björk appeared as a featured artist on "Afi", a track from the Björgvin Gíslason 1983 record ''Örugglega''.

Due to the imminent cancelling of radio show ''Áfangar'', two radio personalities, Ásmundur Jónsson and Guðni Rúnar, requested musicians to play on a last live radio show. Björk joined with Einar Melax (from the group Fan Houtens Kókó), Einar Örn Benediktsson (from Purrkur Pillnikk), Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson and Sigtryggur Baldursson (from Þeyr), and Birgir Mogensen (from Spilafífl) to perform in the concert. The group developed a gothic rock sound. During this experience, Björk began to develop her vocalisation – punctuated by howls and shrieks. The project performed as Gott kvöld during the concert. When they later decided to keep playing together as a group, they used the name (" Sorcery" in Icelandic). Björk's acquaintance gave the group their studio to record in and released their first single in 1983. Their first big performance at a festival in Iceland was headlined by English anarchist punk band Crass, whose record label, Crass Records offered the band a record deal. '' The Eye'' was released in 1984, followed by a two-month tour in Europe, which also included a performance at Roskilde Festival in Denmark. This made Kukl the first Icelandic band to play at the festival. During this period Björk published a hand-coloured book of poems. '' Um Úrnat frá Björk'' was distributed in 1984.

1985–1992: the Sugarcubes

Kukl's second album, '' Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought)'', came out in 1986. The band split up due to personal conflict, with Björk keeping a collaboration with Guðlaugur, which was named the Elgar Sisters. Some of the songs they recorded ended up as B-sides to Björk solo singles.

Björk had her first acting role on '' The Juniper Tree'' (filmed in 1986, released in 1990), a tale of witchcraft based on the Brothers Grimm story, directed by Nietzchka Keene. Björk played the role of Margit, a girl whose mother has been killed for practising witchcraft. That summer, former band member Einar Örn and Eldon formed the arts collective '' Smekkleysa'' ("Bad Taste" in Icelandic), created with the intention of being both a record label and book publishing company. Various friends, namely Melax and Sigtryggur from Kukl, along with Bragi Ólafsson and Friðrik Erlingson from Purrkur Pillnikk, joined the group and a band coalesced in the collective solely to make money. They were initially called Þukl, but they were advertised as Kukl (the name of the previous band). At a later concert supporting Icelandic band Stuðmenn, they referred to themselves as ''Sykurmolarnir'' ("Sugarcubes" in Icelandic). Their first double A-side single, "Einn mol'á mann", which contained the songs " Ammæli" ("Birthday") and "Köttur" ("Cat"), was released on 21 November 1986, Björk's 21st birthday.

At the end of that year, the Sugarcubes signed with One Little Indian. Their first English single, "Birthday", was released in the United Kingdom on 17 August 1987; a week later, it was declared single of the week by ''Melody Maker''. The Sugarcubes also signed a distribution deal with Elektra Records in the United States and recorded their first album, '' Life's Too Good'', which was released in 1988. After the release of the album, Eldon and Björk divorced soon after the birth of their child despite being in the same group. The album went on to sell more than one million copies worldwide. Björk contributed as a background vocalist on 1987 album '' Loftmynd'' by Megas, for whom she provided background vocals also on his subsequent album, '' Höfuðlausnir'' (1988), and '' Hættuleg hljómsveit & glæpakvendið Stella'' (1990).

In the last quarter of 1988, the Sugarcubes toured North America to positive reception. On 15 October, the band appeared on ''Saturday Night Live''. Björk alone contributed a rendition of the Christmas song "Jólakötturinn" ("The Christmas Cat") on the compilation ''Hvít Er Borg Og Bær''. The band went on hiatus following the lack of reception of '' Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!'' (1989) and a lengthy international tour. During this time, Björk started working on her solo projects. In 1990 she provided background vocals on ''Gums'' by Bless. In the same year, she recorded '' Gling-Gló'', a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar, which was still her best-selling album in her home country. Björk also contributed vocals to 808 State's album '' ex:el'', with whom she cultivated her interest in house music. She contributed vocals on the songs "Qmart" and on "Ooops", which was released as a single in the UK in 1991. She also contributed vocals to the song "Falling", on the album ''Island'' by Current 93 and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. In the same year she met harpist Corky Hale, with whom she had a recording session that ended up as a track on her future album '' Debut''.

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

1993–1996: ''Debut'' and ''Post''

Björk moved to London to pursue a solo career. She began working with producer Nellee Hooper (who had produced Massive Attack, among others). Their partnership produced Björk's first international solo hit, " Human Behaviour", a dance track based on a guitar rhythm sampled from Antônio Carlos Jobim. In most countries, the song was not widely played on radio, but its music video gained strong airtime on MTV. It was directed by Michel Gondry, who became a frequent collaborator for Björk. Her first solo album, '' Debut'', was released in June 1993 to positive reviews; it was named album of the year by ''NME'' and eventually went platinum in the United States.

''Debut'' was the leap Björk made from being in numerous bands during her teens and early twenties to her solo career. She named the album ''Debut'' to signify a start of something new. ''Debut'' had a mix of songs Björk had been writing since she was a teenager, as well as more recent lyrical collaborations with Hooper. The dance-oriented album varied in instrumentation. One single from the album, " Venus as a Boy", featured a Bollywood-influenced string arrangement. Björk covered the jazz standard " Like Someone in Love" to the accompaniment of a harp, and the final track, "The Anchor Song", was sung with only a saxophone ensemble for accompaniment.

At the 1994 Brit Awards, Björk won the awards for Best International Female and Best International Newcomer. The success of ''Debut'' enabled her to collaborate with British and other artists on one-off tracks. She worked with David Arnold on " Play Dead", the theme to the 1993 film '' The Young Americans'' (which appeared as a bonus track on a re-release of ''Debut''), collaborated on two songs for Tricky's '' Nearly God'' project, appeared on the track "Lilith" for the album '' Not for Threes'' by Plaid, and co-wrote the song " Bedtime Story" for Madonna's 1994 album '' Bedtime Stories''. Björk also had an uncredited role as a runway model in the 1994 film '' Prêt-à-Porter''.

'' Post'' was Björk's second solo studio album. Released in June 1995, the album was produced in conjunction with Nellee Hooper, Tricky, Graham Massey of 808 State, and electronica producer Howie B. Building on the success of ''Debut'', Björk continued to pursue different sounds, taking particular interest in dance and techno. Production by Tricky and Howie B also provided trip hop/electronica-like sounds on tracks like " Possibly Maybe" and "Enjoy". It was these producers' influence along with older friend Graham Massey that inspired Björk to create material like the storming industrial beats of " Army of Me". The album was ranked number 7 in '' Spin'' "Top 90 Albums of the '90s" list and number 75 in its "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005" list. ''Post'' and ''Homogenic'' were placed back to back on Pitchfork Media's "Top Albums of the '90s" list at numbers 21 and 20, respectively. In 2003, the album was ranked number 373 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. During this period, the press exalted Björk's eccentricity by creating a "pixie" persona around her, a descriptor she later confronted with her following albums.

Although Björk continued to receive more mainstream attention for her videos than her singles, ''Post'' included several UK pop hits and was eventually certified platinum in the US. Note: reader must define search parameter as "Bjork". Björk also contributed to the 1995 Hector Zazou collaborative album '' Chansons des mers froides'', singing the traditional Icelandic song " Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu".

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

Björk left London for Spain, where she recorded the album ''Homogenic'', released in 1997. Björk worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B, as well as Eumir Deodato; numerous remixes followed. ''Homogenic'' is regarded as one of Björk's most experimental and extroverted works, with enormous beats that reflect the landscape of Iceland, most notably in the song "Jóga", which fuses lush strings with rocky electronic crunches. The album was certified gold in the US in 2001. The album was backed by string of music videos, several of which received airplay on MTV. The video for "Bachelorette" was directed by frequent collaborator Michel Gondry, while "All Is Full of Love" was directed by Chris Cunningham. The single "All is Full of Love" was also the first DVD single to ever be released in the US, which paved the way for other artists to include DVD video and other multimedia features with their singles. Björk began to write more personally, saying "I realised that I'd come to the end of the extrovert thing. I had to go home and search for myself again."

In 1999, Björk was asked to write and produce the musical score for the film ''Dancer in the Dark'', a musical drama about an immigrant named Selma who is struggling to pay for an operation to prevent her son from going blind. Director Lars von Trier eventually asked her to consider playing the role of Selma, convincing her that the only true way to capture the character of Selma was to have the composer of the music play the character. Eventually, she accepted. Filming began in early 1999, and the film debuted in 2000 at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival. The film received the Palme d'Or, and Björk received the Best Actress Award for her role. It was reported that the shoot was so physically and emotionally tiring that she vowed never to act again. Björk later stated that she always wanted to do one musical in her life, and ''Dancer in the Dark'' was the one. The soundtrack Björk created for the film was released with the title '' Selmasongs''. The album features a duet with Thom Yorke of Radiohead titled "I've Seen It All", which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and was performed at the 2001 Oscars (without Yorke), while Björk was wearing her celebrated swan dress.

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

In 2001, Björk released the album '' Vespertine''. It featured chamber orchestras, choirs, hushed vocals, microbeats made from household sounds, and personal, vulnerable themes. For the album, she collaborated with experimental musicians such as Matmos, Denmark-based DJ Thomas Knak, and harpist Zeena Parkins. Lyrical sources included the works of American poet E. E. Cummings, the American independent filmmaker Harmony Korine, and English playwright Sarah Kane's penultimate play, '' Crave''. To coincide with the album's release, an eponymous coffee table book of loose prose and photographs was published. Björk embarked on the Vespertine world tour. The shows were held in theatres and opera houses in order to have "the best acoustics possible." She was accompanied by Matmos, Parkins and an Inuit choir, whom she had held auditions for on a trip to Greenland prior to the tour. At the time, ''Vespertine'' was Björk's fastest selling album to date, having sold two million copies by the end of 2001.

''Vespertine'' spawned three singles: " Hidden Place", " Pagan Poetry", and " Cocoon". MTV2 played the album's first video, "Hidden Place", which was subsequently released as a DVD single. The next video, for "Pagan Poetry", brought Björk to an even higher level of controversy with the channel. The video features graphic piercings, Björk's exposed nipples, and simulated fellatio. As a result, the clip was banned from MTV. In 2002, it was aired unedited as part of a late night special on MTV2 titled, "Most Controversial Music Videos". The video for "Cocoon" also featured a seemingly naked Björk (actually wearing a close fitting bodysuit), this time with her nipples secreting a red thread that eventually enveloped her in a cocoon. The video was directed by Japanese artist Eiko Ishioka and was not aired by MTV. She was invited to record " Gollum's Song" for the film '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' but declined the invitation, as she was then pregnant; the song was instead recorded by another Icelander, Emilíana Torrini.

In 2002 the CD box set ''Family Tree'' was issued. It comprised selected rarities as well as previously unreleased versions of her compositions, including her work with the Brodsky Quartet. Also released alongside ''Family Tree'' was the album '' Greatest Hits'', a retrospective of the previous 10 years of her solo career as deemed by the public. The songs on the album were chosen by Björk's fans through a poll on her website. A DVD edition of the CD was also released. It contained all of Björk's solo music videos up to that point. The new single from the set, "It's in Our Hands" charted in the UK at number 37. The video, directed by Spike Jonze, features a heavily pregnant Björk. She gave birth to daughter Isadora Bjarkardottir Barney on 3 October 2002. Björk and the Brodsky Quartet recorded "Prayer of the Heart", a composition written for her by composer John Tavener in 2001, and it was played then for a slide show presentation in 2003 for the American photographer, Nan Goldin. In 2003, Björk released a box set, '' Live Box'', consisting of four CDs containing live recordings of her previous albums and a DVD featuring a video of one track from each CD. Each of the four CDs was later released separately at a reduced price.

2004–2006: ''Medúlla'' and ''Drawing Restraint 9''

In August 2004, Björk released '' Medúlla''. During production, Björk decided the album would work best as an entirely vocal-based album. This initial plan was modified, as the majority of the sounds on the album are indeed created by vocalists but several feature prominent basic electronic programming, as well as the occasional musical instrument. Björk used the vocal skills of throat singer Tanya Tagaq, hip hop beatboxer Rahzel, Japanese beatboxer Dokaka, avant-rocker Mike Patton, Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, and several choirs. She again appropriated text from E. E. Cummings for the song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI". At the time, ''Medúlla'' became her highest-charting album in the US, debuting at number 14.

In August 2004, Björk performed the song "Oceania" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. As she sang, her dress slowly unfurled to reveal a 10,000 square foot (900 m²) map of the world, which she let flow over all of the Olympic athletes. The song "Oceania" was written especially for the occasion and features the talents of Shlomo, a Leeds-based beatboxer, and a London choir. An alternative version of the song began circulating on the Internet with additional vocals by Kelis. It originally appeared on the promotional "Oceania" single released to radio stations and later became available to the public as a B-side of the " Who Is It" single, which charted at number 26 in the UK. This was followed in early 2005 by " Triumph of a Heart", charting at number 31. A video for the potential next single, " Where Is the Line", was filmed in collaboration with the Icelandic artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir in late 2004. This was initially a sequence from an art installation movie of the artists but was released exclusively on the '' Medúlla Videos'' DVD as an official promo for the track.

In 2005, Björk collaborated with partner Matthew Barney on the experimental art film '' Drawing Restraint 9'', a dialogueless exploration of Japanese culture. Björk and Barney both appear in the film, playing two occidental guests on a Japanese factory whaling vessel who ultimately transform into two whales. She is also responsible for the film's soundtrack, her second after ''Selmasongs''. Björk also appeared in the 2005 documentary '' Screaming Masterpiece'', which delves into the Icelandic music scene. The movie features archive footage of the Sugarcubes and Tappi Tíkarrass and an ongoing conversation with Björk herself. During this era, Björk earned another BRIT Awards nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist. She was also awarded the Inspiration Award at the Annual '' Q Magazine'' Awards in October 2005, accepting the prize from Robert Wyatt, with whom she collaborated on ''Medúlla''. In 2006, Björk remastered her first three solo studio albums (''Debut'', ''Post'', ''Homogenic'') and her two soundtrack albums (''Selmasongs'' and ''Drawing Restraint 9'') in 5.1 surround sound for a re-issue in a new box-set titled '' Surrounded'', released on 27 June. ''Vespertine'' and ''Medúlla'' were already available in 5.1 as either DVD-A or SACD but are also included in the box set in repackaged format. The DualDiscs were also released separately. Björk's former band, the Sugarcubes, reunited for a one-night-only concert in Reykjavík on 17 November 2006. Profits from the concert were donated to the Sugarcubes' former label, Smekkleysa, who according to Björk's press statement, "continue to work on a non-profit basis for the future betterment of Icelandic music".

2007–2010: ''Volta''

Björk contributed a cover of Joni Mitchell's song "The Boho Dance" to the album '' A Tribute to Joni Mitchell'' (2007). Director and previous collaborator Michel Gondry asked Björk to star in his film '' The Science of Sleep'', but she declined. The role was played by Charlotte Gainsbourg instead. Björk starred in Gunar Karlsson's 2007 animated film '' Anna and the Moods'', along with Terry Jones and Damon Albarn.

Björk's sixth full-length studio album, '' Volta'', was released on 1 May 2007. It features 10 tracks. The album features input from hip hop producer Timbaland, singer Anohni, poet Sjón, electronic beat programmer Mark Bell, kora master Toumani Diabaté, Congolese thumb piano band Konono No 1, pipa player Min Xiaofen, and, on several songs, an all-female ensemble from Iceland performing brass compositions. It also uses the Reactable, a novel "tangible-interface" synthesizer from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, which on ''Volta'' is played by Damian Taylor. The first single from the album, " Earth Intruders", was released digitally on 9 April 2007 and became her second-ever ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entry in the United States. ''Volta'' debuted at number nine on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, becoming her first top 10 album in the US, netting week-one sales of 43,000. The album also reached number three on the French albums chart with sales of 20,600 albums sold in its first week, and number seven in the UK Albums Chart with 20,456 units sold. The second single from the album, " Innocence", was digitally released on 23 July 2007, with an accompanying music video chosen from a contest conducted through her official website. " Declare Independence" was released on 1 January 2008 in a super deluxe package including two 12" vinyls, a CD, and a DVD featuring Gondry's "Declare Independence" video. " Wanderlust" was subsequently released in a similar format, featuring Encyclopedia Pictura's short film directed for the track, shot in stereoscopic 3D. The fifth single released from the album was " The Dull Flame of Desire", featuring vocals by Anohni.

Björk then completed the 18-month The Volta tour, having performed at many festivals and returning to Latin America after nine years, playing in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Curitiba, Guadalajara, Bogotá, Lima, Santiago de Chile, and Buenos Aires, as part of different events. She also returned to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in 12 years in January 2008, touring the nations with the Big Day Out Festival. She played a one-off show at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Sydney Festival. Her music was featured in the 2008 documentary ''Horizons: The Art of Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir'' directed by Frank Cantor.

Announced via an eBay auction, a new Björk track was revealed under the title " Náttúra". Björk commented the song was intended "to encourage active support for a more environmental approach to Iceland's natural resources."
The song was initially labelled as a new single by Björk, with backing vocals from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke. Björk's official website later stated that the single would be released on 27 October 2008 through iTunes, but the track was eventually made available at nattura.grapewire.net, exclusively. In a statement released by bjork.com, a limited edition box set titled '' Voltaïc'' from One Little Indian Records was announced, with a release date in North America of 20 April 2009 (later delayed to mid-June). The release consists of various live recordings of performances in Paris and Reykjavík. The live set was also recorded at the Olympic Studio in London. The first disc is audio of songs from the Volta tour performed live at Olympic Studios; the second disc contains video of the Volta tour live in Paris and live in Reykjavík; the third disc contains "The Volta Videos" and the video competition, while the fourth is ''The Volta Mixes'' CD.

In May 2010, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music announced that Björk was to receive the Polar Music Prize alongside Ennio Morricone. A month later, Björk, along with Dirty Projectors, announced that they would be collaborating on a joint EP, titled '' Mount Wittenberg Orca'', which was released on 30 June, to raise money for marine conservation. In September 2010, Björk released " The Comet Song" as part of the soundtrack for the movie '' Moomins and the Comet Chase''. Also in 2010, she dueted with fellow Icelander (and One Little Indian labelmate) Ólöf Arnalds on a track called "Surrender" from Arnalds's new album, '' Innundir skinni'', and performed a duet with Anohni on the Antony and the Johnsons album '' Swanlights''. The song is titled "Flétta". On 20 September 2010, Björk performed her version of " Gloomy Sunday" at designer Alexander McQueen's memorial in St. Paul's cathedral in London. On 7 December 2010, a previously unreleased song, called "Trance", was released by Björk as the backing track of a short film made by Nick Knight, titled "To Lee, with Love", as 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, United Kingdom at the Manchester International Festival on 30 June. This was the first part of the Biophilia tour, that toured the world for two years.

In June 2011, the first single from ''Biophilia'', "Crystalline", was released. The song was composed using one of the several instruments custom built for the project, the "gameleste", a celesta modified with elements of gamelan. A central part of ''Biophilia'' was a series of interactive iPad apps made by programmers and designers, one app for each of the 10 songs on the new album. The second single, "Cosmogony", which served as the "mother app" for all the others, was released on 19 July 2011, followed by "Virus" and "Moon". ''Biophilia'' was the first album to be released, in October 2011, as a series of interactive apps. 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 Reykjavík City Board of Education brought the programme to all schools in the city over the next three years.

She released the 2012 remix album '' Bastards''. It featured remixes by Death Grips and Syrian musician Omar Souleyman. In 2013, Björk featured in a Channel 4 documentary along with Sir David Attenborough called '' When Björk Met Attenborough'', as part of their ''Mad4Music'' season of programmes. Björk and Attenborough discussed the human relationship with music, focusing around '' Biophilia'', and also featuring scientist Oliver Sacks. In 2014, the apps were the first ever to be inducted into the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. In June, Björk recorded original vocal samples for Death Grips, which they used on all 8 songs of ''Niggas on the Moon'', the first part of their double LP, '' The Powers That B''. In late 2014, a concert film, '' Björk: Biophilia Live'', was released worldwide, including in more than 400 cinemas.

Björk worked with producers Arca and the Haxan Cloak on her eight studio album, titled '' Vulnicura''. 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, 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 and Beyoncé, the former of whom also released her album to iTunes after being leaked, and the latter of whom wanted to revolutionize how albums were released and consumed. Björk began her world tour in March 2015 at Carnegie Hall performing " Black Lake" and other tracks from ''Vulnicura'' as well as several from her back catalog with accompaniment from the ensemble Alarm Will Sound, Arca on electronics (on festival dates the Haxan Cloak took over) and percussionist Manu Delago. After completing its New York residency, the tour travelled to Europe before ending in August 2015.

New York's MoMA hosted a retrospective exhibition from 8 March – 7 June 2015 that chronicled Björk's career from ''Debut'' to ''Biophilia''; however, aspects of ''Vulnicura'' were included as well but not previously announced. The retrospective consisted of 4 parts: the ''Biophilia'' instruments (Tesla coil, MIDI controlled organ, the newly created Gameleste, and gravity harp) were on display in the lobby of the museum and played automatically throughout the day, the MoMA commissioned video installation, "Black Lake", directed by Andrew Thomas Huang, which consisted of 2 complementary edits of the "Black Lake" video screened in a small room with 49 speakers hidden in the walls and ceiling, a Cinema room showcasing most of Björk's music videos, newly transferred in high definition, and the Songlines walking exhibit which showcased Björk's notebooks, costumes and props from throughout her career. A book entitled '' Björk: Archives'', documenting the content of the exhibition, was published in March. 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'' was announced. The album serves as a purely acoustic companion to ''Vulnicura'', and features additional string arrangements plus the viola organista, a unique string instrument played on a keyboard designed by Leonardo da Vinci. It was released on 6 November 2015 on CD and digital and 4 December 2015 on vinyl. A week later, '' Vulnicura Live'' 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. 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'' in support of the women's health organization.

Björk launched '' Björk Digital'' in June 2016, a virtual reality exhibit showcasing all the VR videos completed for ''Vulnicura'' thus far, including the world premiere of "Notget", directed by Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, at Carriageworks for Vivid Sydney 2016 in Sydney, Australia. She DJ'd 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'', Cornucopia, and ''Fossora''

On 2 August 2017, Björk announced with a handwritten note on her social media the imminent release of a new album. The announcement coincided with an interview for ''Dazed''s autumn 2017 cover issue in which Björk talked about the new album. The lead single, " The Gate", was released on 15 September 2017. Its video was directed by Andrew Thomas Huang. The same day of the single's release, Björk announced the album title, ''Utopia'', during an interview with Nowness.

''Utopia'' was released on 24 November 2017. She described it as her "Tinder album" and stated that "it's about that search (for utopia) – and about being in love. Spending time with a person you enjoy is when the dream becomes real." Björk added that her previous album 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'shad", likening it to that of Joni Mitchell and Jaco Pastorius during the albums '' Hejira'' and '' Don Juan's Reckless Daughter'' ("It's that synergy when two people lose their ego"), which have both been praised by Björk. Three additional music videos were released in 2017: " Blissing Me", "Utopia" and " Arisen My Senses" with the former and latter also receiving limited edition remix EPs. ''Utopia'' was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, making Björk's fifteenth nomination at the Grammys.

On 22 May 2018, Björk appeared as the headlining musical guest on '' Later... with Jools Holland'', her first time on the BBC series since 2011. She sang a set of four songs, including 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. 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 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 and the other by the Knife. Both remixes, as well as Björk's own remix of Fever Ray's 2017 song, "This Country", were collected on '' Country Creatures''.

On 27 September 2019, Björk made a surprise appearance during ''Mutant;Faith'', Arca's performance-art piece at the Shed, to debut "Afterwards", a new collaboration which Björk performed in a combination of Spanish and gibberish. The song is included on Arca's fourth studio album, '' KiCk i'', which was released on 26 June 2020. Björk then embarked on her eleventh concert tour, called Björk Orkestral, in which she performed orchestral arrangements of songs from her career. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was postponed several times before taking place from 2021 to 2023.

In August 2020, Björk joined the cast of '' The Northman'', the third feature film by Robert Eggers, co-written with Sjón, alongside her daughter Ísadóra Bjarkardóttir Barney, in her debut film role. It was released on 22 April 2022 in the United States.

In an interview with ''The Mercury News'' published on 19 January 2022, Björk mentioned that she was wrapping up work on her upcoming tenth studio album. She revealed in an interview with ''The Guardian'', published on 19 August 2022, that the new album is called '' Fossora'', a Latin word for "digging". ''Fossora'' was released on 30 September 2022. It was supported by four singles: " Atopos" on 6 September 2022, "Ovule" on 14 September, " Ancestress" on 22 September and the album's title track on 27 September. Also in September 2022 Björk ventured into podcasting, hosting '' Björk: Sonic Symbolism'' which, according to a press release, features her "discussing the textures, timbres and emotional landscapes of each of her albums" with friends writer Oddný Eir and musicologist Ásmundur Jónsson.

Björk released the single "Oral", featuring Rosalía with production from Sega Bodega, on 21 November 2023. A reworked demo written between ''Homogenic'' and ''Vespertine'', the song is intended to support the inhabitants of Seyðisfjörður in the campaign against Norwegian-owned fish farming operations that threaten to degrade local ecosystems. The proceeds from this song were donated to Aegis, an environmental organization Björk founded with other Icelandic activists to stop the intensive fish farming that is destroying the fjords.

In 2024, Björk appeared on the April/May cover of '' Vogue Scandinavia'', her first ever '' Vogue'' cover, photographed by Viðar Logi wearing Maison Margiela. In October, a newly discovered large butterfly species was named '' Pterourus bjorkae'' in honour of Björk. In 2025 '' Cornucopia'', a concert film chronicling a performance in Lisbon during the last leg of the Cornucopia tour, directed by Ísold Uggadóttir, premiered on Apple TV+ as part of the Apple Music Live series, with a full-length version receiving a theatrical release.

Artistry

Style

Over her three-decade solo career, Björk has developed an eclectic and avant-garde musical style that incorporates aspects of electronic, dance, alternative dance, trip hop, experimental, glitch, jazz, alternative rock, instrumental, and contemporary classical music. Her music has since been subject to critical analysis and scrutiny, as she consistently defies categorisation in a musical genre. Although she often calls herself a pop artist, she is considered a "restlessly experimental creative force". According to ''The New Yorker''s Taylor Ho Bynum, "no contemporary artist so gracefully bridges the divide etween music experimentalist and pop celebrityas Björk". Her album '' Debut'', which incorporated electronic, house, jazz, and trip hop, has been credited as one of the first albums to introduce electronic music into mainstream pop. Her work has been described as "frequently explor ngthe relationship between nature and technology". Broadly summarising her wide-ranging integration of art and popular music, Joshua Ostroff suggested that "there is no better descriptor for what Björk does than artpop". The ''NME'' also called her output a "consistently progressive pop agenda."

Björk's work 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 in Exodus, post-punk in Tappi Tíkarrass and gothic rock in Kukl. When working with Tappi Tíkarrass, she was heavily influenced by British new wave bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, the Passions, the Slits, Joy Division, and Killing Joke. The studio album '' Gling-Gló'' (1990) was recorded with Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar and featured jazz and popular standards sung "very much in the classic Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan mould." The Sugarcubes' style has been described as avant-pop and alternative rock. Although Björk was in various post-punk and alternative rock bands during the late 1980s, her contact with London's underground club culture helped her find her own musical identity.

''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 by the sensual and groundbreaking ambient music formerly found in Chicago and Detroit. The music of ''Debut'' reflects the contemporary musical environment of London, where jörklived in the early 1990s, especially the burgeoning trip-hop scene of bands like Portishead and Massive Attack. Michael Cragg of ''The Guardian'' has described it as an "indefinable conflation of electronic pop, trip-hop, world music and otherworldly lyrics"; while '' The Face''s Mandi James said it was "a delightful fusion of thrash metal, jazz, funk and opera, with the odd dash of exotica thrown in for good measure."

The 1995 album '' Post'', known for its eclecticism, 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 energy that was mid-90s London, where she had relocated and where strange hybrids such as jungle and trip-hop 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 roulette" by the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', Available a
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it touches on various musical styles, including industrial music, big-band jazz, trip-hop, chillout, and experimental music. 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, the album is a "fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica". 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-futurism, Neva Chonin of ''Rolling Stone'' reflected on how the album 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), with sharper melodies, minimalistic production and explicit lyrics inspired by poetry of E. E. Cummings and Sarah Kane's play '' Crave''. ''Vespertine'' is also characterised by a newfound obsession with the auditory of analog technology, with a prevalent usage of loops, static and white noise, paradoxically contrasting the advancement of digital technology occurring in the 21st century; thus, elements of glitch music have been identified. Unlike previous albums like ''Debut'' and ''Post'', 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. '' Wondering Sound'' 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 glitches and dreamy layering, rarely descending into novelty." The album combines beatboxing

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