Ethereal Magic: The Björk song that “came out at once”
Throughout her career, Björk has always been known for pushing the boat out on every release. There isn’t a single moment in her discography that could be described as bland, and while not all of it is to the taste of listeners, her ability to stretch all preconceptions of what music can sound like is taken to the extreme.
Nobody could have predicted that in 2004, she’d follow up her critically adored record Vespertine with Medúlla, an album that only sparingly used musical instruments in favour of showcasing the human voice as the predominant sound heard on the release. Featuring contributions from the likes of Mike Patton, Robert Wyatt, Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, and a host of beatboxers and choristers, the album is nothing short of a marvel in experimentation and presented the Icelandic artist as a creative force that simply knew no bounds.
Despite Medúlla and many of the albums that followed it being so conceptually dense and complex, some of her greatest achievements are in moments where she has taken a simpler approach. ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ is a straight rendition of an obscure song from 1951 that doesn’t dare to experiment with its original form, seeing Björk unusually look to the past instead of employing her usual futuristic approach. Certain songs from Debut, like ‘Crying’ and ‘Big Time Sensuality’, are slightly peculiar but are shining examples of ‘90s dance pop that show off her ability to write a hook more than they do her desire to warp musical conventions.
However, possibly her greatest track is ‘All Is Full of Love’, a slow-building track that is a demonstration of trippy production styles and her innate ability to carve a stunning vocal line seemingly out of nothing. The processed drum beats and bass along with short flurries of strings and cascading harpsichord are only there as secondary focal points, as Björk’s voice takes centre stage. The most surprising thing about the song? It barely took her any time to write it.
“Sometimes the words will come out in one go,” she told Q. “I went out for a walk in 1997 and ‘All Is Full Of Love’ came out at once.” Coming at the end of her third album, Homogenic, it follows a violent and restless song in ‘Pluto’, which makes use of pounding industrial techno breaks and hears Björk deliver some of her most guttural growls on a track.
‘All Is Full of Love’ is the calm after the storm that feels like a beacon of hope after an album that explores themes of environmental disaster and the destruction of her home of Iceland. It serves as a reminder that we must love what’s around us in order to feel loved by it in return, with Björk herself claiming that “it’s up to you what you give, but it’s not up to you what you are given and where from.”
The version that appears on the album, however, is not the best-known version of the song and was actually a remix of the original recording provided by Howie B in order to make it feel more in keeping with the production styles of Homogenic. Björk would eventually release the fuller-sounding and less glacial original version as a single in 1999, which was accompanied by the award-winning video directed by Chris Cunningham that depicts two robots in an embrace.
It’s a touching moment in Björk’s incredible career, and a fine example of how some of the simplest things can have such a profound and long-lasting impact. It doesn’t need to be over-complicated, as the message would lose its potency, and the stripped back feel of the song only highlights just how important she seemed to immediately know the song would be.
