“We wanted the synths to sound like flutes and the flutes to sound like birds and the birds to sound like synths,” the singer-songwriter Björk told The New York Times last year, speaking of her latest theatrical-cum-musical production. Raised in an Icelandic commune of artists and musicians, Björk has meandered through genres and personae—from her first group, an all-girl punk band called Spit and Snot, to her mid-career foray into the world of Pop, during which she wore the infamous swan dress to the Academy Awards—but a certain chaos, an ethos of paradox, has remained constant in the singer’s work. Her latest sees a sonic homecoming—an homage to the foliage, flute tradition, and women of Iceland—that possesses a sci-fi feel, heightened by the singer’s unique lilt. She streams this Saturday. —C.J.F.
Björk with Large String Orchestra
YouTube / Online / Music
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