Vespertine = True Originality (Vespertine - Björk)

Member Name: severus_snape

Product:	Vespertine - Björk
Date:	24/02/08 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful lyrics and sounds

Disadvantages: One or two unnecessay tracks

This is the fourth of Bjork's studio albums (not including Selma Songs), and despite being succeeded by another two, this album stands for me as the best so far. Although Bjork doesn't always receive the credit she deserves for her music, (particularly from mainstream media), she remains one of the most successful alternative artists this century. With each album comes a new wave of sound and a completely different approach.

For Vespertine, the mood is mysterious and secretive. The heavy electronic beats that echoed throughout Homogenic are dispensed with, and replaced with softer beats and crisp musicbox clinks. For this album, Bjork travelled to Greenland in search of the perfect choir, and came back with a group of female singers whose voices ring out during "Hidden Place" and "Pagan Poetry". These were the first two tracks from the album to be released as singles, and were pretty well recevied.

Hidden Place is the first track on the album, and explores the idea of keeping a love hidden and secret, nurturing it gently. The choir play an important role in this piece, supported by a solid (but not overbearing) bass line, and reaches fabulous climaxes in the chorus. The track follows with "Cocoon", which was also released as a single. The video was quite controversial, featuring a fully naked Bjork, and the lyrics were equally controversial, with explicit themes. It explores the physical connections between two people in love, and has quite powerful connotations.

Pagen Poetry is the fifth track on the album, and is my personal favourite. For this piece, Bjork had a music box made, which along with Harpist Zeena Parkins provides the main accompaniment The bass line is much heavier, and like Hidden Place it features the choir, who in mesmerising fashion chant "She loves him, she loves him" repeatedly near the song's end. The track has a magical quality to it that is only really due to the music box, but one which is wonderfully affective.

I don't think the CD has many flaws, although I think the song "Crabcraft" was probably my least favourite. Each track has a deep originality that you rarely find from other artists, and the videos to the songs I mentioned are equally imaginative. I highly recommend this album.

Summary: A magical CD