Björk explains the meaning behind upcoming charity single featuring Rosalía
Björk has explained the meaning behind her upcoming collaboration with Rosalía, ‘Oral’, a charity single to fight a proposed salmon farm in Iceland.
The Icelandic singer first recorded the upcoming single in between Homogenic and Vespertine but then misplaced the tape. After rediscovering it in the spring of 2023, Björk decided to modernise it with Rosalía’s vocals and put it out as a charity single.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Icelandic singer spoke at length about the fish farming issue and how the song fits into this, explaining, “I liked the song, but it was sort of its own little thing that doesn’t fit on any albums or anything. And then this whole open sea fish farming thing came up, and I was like, ‘Oh, I will just give it to activism.'”
According to the experimental singer, the song itself is about “that moment when you’ve met someone, and you don’t know if it’s friendship or something more. So you become, I guess, aroused. And you become very aware of your lips.” With Rosalía’s feature, Björk wanted to bring in “a guest who can represent 2023” so that the song becomes almost “a tunnel or binoculars between the two eras looking at each other”.
Though the song wasn’t originally written about the issues it shines a light on, Björk added, “And even though I obviously didn’t write this song for salmons, I like the fact that it’s a happy song.”
“I would like to offer hope in all things environmental,” she concluded. “I would like to react to environmental issues with more optimism and in a solution-based way, find court cases that you can win, and change things that you can change.”
‘Oral’ by Björk and Rosalía is set for release on November 9th. Profits will go towards legal fees for people fighting fish farming in Seyðisfjörður.
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