Björk (Exclusive To Readers Of The Observer)

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<b>100 Best Albums</b> “I’m the hunter/I’ll bring back the good,” Björk intones on <i>Homogenic</i>’s spooky, skittering opener. In fact, the Icelandic superstar’s third album would prove to be one of the most highly regarded releases of her career, a rippling tapestry of techno innovation and orchestral songcraft. The urgency of the lyrics here are no mistake: The singer had been deeply affected by a string of personal incident, including the highly publicized suicide of a stalker who had attempted to assassinate her with a letter bomb, and the exhaustion of an extensive tour for her previous album, <i>Post</i>. That tension manifests on tracks like the towering, string-laden “Bachelorette”—“I’m a fountain of blood/In the shape of a girl”—and siren-like ballad “Jóga,” with its urgent couplets about emotional rescue and states of emergency. Recorded almost entirely at the home studio of her tour drummer Trevor Morais in Málaga, Spain, <i>Homogenic</i> also marked Björk’s departure from <i>Post</i> and <i>Debut</i> producer Nellee Hooper. In his place, collaborators including Scottish DJ Howie B, British producer Guy Sigsworth (Madonna, Britney Spears), and LFO’s Mark Bell stepped in. (Bell in particular became integral to the production, and would go on to work with her on over half a dozen albums until his untimely death at age 43 in 2014.) .

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