Utopia according to Björk

Flitting between cutting edge technologies and organic, almost physical sensations, Vulnicura resuscitated the Björk of Homogenic and Vespertine. We saw a Björk who had rarely been so exposed, with her break-up from the video and visual artist Mathew Barney being at the heart of this heavy album from 2015, both in her lyrics and her musical architecture. To help her with her task, the Icelander was surrounded by two accomplices from the electro sphere: the British Bobby Krlic a.k.a. The Haxan Cloa and the young Venezuelan Alejandro Ghersi a.k.a. Arca. The latter is now at the heart of Utopia which was released this autumn. Though he joined Björk on Vulnicura once the songs had been written, this time round he worked with her from the start of the project to the point that Björk constantly insists in interviews that the record was entirely conceived by the two of them. Like with the worlds of Actress or Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca has always known how to mix the most cerebral corners of electronic music with the most physiological.

In other words, you couldn’t find better reasons to wander the planet of Björk. Yes, wandering. That’s how you feel when you listen to Utopia. This master at the top of her game takes you by the hand with her unique voice, guiding you through multiple textures, sometimes thick and heavy, (Arisen My Senses) but also airy like never before (Blissing Me, Utopia). It is however in the more understated compositions that Björk is at her most convincing. And Arca is not the sole key element of this tenth studio album. The Icelander brings back her weapon of choice that hasn’t left her side since the age of 5: the flute! It’s a common thread in her mad and fantasizing work that cannot be fully digested in a single listening. Björk Guðmundsdóttir is no Taylor Alison Swift and Utopia proves this!

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