Vulnicura

About

Nothing breaks like a heart, and nothing burns like a breakup album. In the wake of an ugly split from her longtime partner, American artist Matthew Barney, Björk began crafting her own cracked entry to a canon that includes such touchstones like Marvin Gaye’s <i>Here, My Dear</i>, Alanis Morrissette’s <i>Jagged Little Pill</i>, and Adele’s <i>25</i>. But naturally, she could only do it in inimitable Björk style. The result was 2015’s <i>Vulnicura</i>, a sui generis tapestry of glimmering orchestral instrumentation, mentholated beat, and shivery vocals—and an album whose heady sonic imprint feels only nominally connected to the ordinary world most of us occupy. Constructed from many of the same essential building blocks as <i>Biophilia</i>—her lush 2011 album—<i>Vulnicura</i> is aesthetically lovely and lyrically devastating. Working with avant-garde innovator Arca, as well as the British studio wizard The Haxan Cloak, Björk came up with nine songs that land with an uncommon emotional rawness—even if their construction is meticulou. There’s the delicate, synth-drenched sparsity of “History of Touches”; the walloping stutter-step build on “Black Lake”; and the immersive, burbling “Atom Dance,” featuring guest vocalist ANOHNI. .

via Apple Music

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