Bjork

Björk has always had an ethereal yet youthful presence, not only musically but also physically. As she waltzed onto the stage at Hammersmith Apollo in April, followed by a female troupe of wholesome Icelandic brass players it was hard to believe that her solo career began over 15 years ago, let alone that she has hit the not-quite-so youthful age of 42.

Yet age doesn’t affect Björk; her youthful playfulness and musical innovation were more than evident on her most recent Timberland-produced album “Volta”. Although most would agree being far from her best work, the contrast between “Medulla”, the album preceding “Volta” and “Volta” itself highlighted that Björk still has the capability to push the musical boundaries as we know them, much as she did in 1993 with “Debut” and then the glorious follow-up “Post”. “Volta” has arguably some of Björk’s most danceable hits so far; certainly this decade when you consider the fact that “Medulla” was mostly created through distorted vocal sounds rather than instruments.

“Earth Intruders”; which Björk chooses to begin not only “Volta” with, but her performance at Hammersmith Apollo also, combines a thumping Timberland beat and Björk’s abstract lyrics to make a splendid pop-cocktail, inevitably encouraging the crowd to get up and dance. In fact, at the Apollo, it seemed quite frequently that the crowd were actually forced to dance, due to the incredible reverberation caused by some of the heaviest bass lines I’ve had the pleasure of feeling. Never was this more evident than during a storming rendition of “Army of Me”, which was also the first demonstration of Björk’s marvelous array of pyrotechnics; stunning lasers combined with mirrors.

There are a handful of duets on her new record, including the celestial “Dull Flame of Desire” with Antony Hegarty (from Antony and the Johnsons), which will be released in late September 2008. The second of the “surprises” brought onstage by Björk at the Apollo (the first being the Malian kora-playing superstar, Toumani Diabaté), Antony and Björk’s voices intertwined and seemed to reach crescendo after crescendo bringing a tear to the eye of many punters, before Antony scuttled back offstage covering his face.

The whole concert itself seemed to be leading to a crescendo (with slower tracks “Unravel” and “Joga” at the beginning), and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Crowd favourite “Hyperballad” signaled the beginning of the end, yet as the crowd sang along during the second chorus, waiting for the beautiful sweeping violins and hypnotic rhythm, they were blown away as Björk threw LFO’s industrial classic “Freak” into the mix, quickly turning the atmosphere from that of raw emotion to, well just raw really. The noise grew and finally climaxed into Björk’s own industrial classic “Pluto”.
“Excuse me I’ve just got to explode”, Björk screamed, and now more than ever, her avant-garde lyrics made perfect sense.