Biophilia

Despite the quality drop, Volta got positive reviews. Surprisingly, it is Björk’s only album to reach a Top 10 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at number nine. Björk actually went on quite a lengthy tour to support Volta; it was worldwide! She also went to China and Hong Kong. Gee golly, I wonder how the concert must’ve been for Shanghai. (Tibet!) Yeah, she got banned in a country, but as per usual, she got back in the studio to record another album. On June 30, 2010, we got Mount Wittenberg Orca, a collaboration with band Dirty Projectors… first of all, this is an EP, and secondly, I didn’t listen to this. Let me try again, okay?

On October 5, 2011, Björk (and Björk only) released Biophilia. Wow, what an interesting cover with the harp stomach. I wonder if she’ll use it in one song.

Well, she does in Moon and Solstice, so not one song but two. What other instruments will she experiment with in this one?

- gameleste
- hang
- sharpsichord
- pendulum harp
- Tesla coil bassline

Well, I don’t know what most of these instruments are, but a Tesla coil bassline? What?! That’s right, Björk literally invented instruments to make this album, and these certainly, extremely wonky instruments give the album a mystical feel. It’s like being welcomed into this tiny village, at least, that’s what I imagine. Speaking about tiny places, Biophilia’s lyrics indicate that it is a concept album about the financial crisis that Iceland had been going through during 2008 to 2011. I think a line in Thunderbolt shows it best: ‘May I, can I, or have I too often/Craving miracles?’ Anyways, this album is crazy, it’s good, and it’s also better than Volta. But would Björk ever fully recover from this “flop era”? I don’t know. We’ll have to see in the next album…

Wait, Björk had a partner?

Favourite Tracks: Moon, Thunderbolt, Crystalline, Cosmogony, Dark Matter, Virus, Mutual Core

Least Favourite Track: Sacrifice