How Björk stays “liquid” when writing songs
Few artists have been able to carve out a niche for themselves quite like Icelandic eccentric Björk. The Reykjavík-born artist is committed to the weird and wonderful. Accordingly, her artistry is ever-changing, always looking to experiment and push the boundaries both sonically and visually.
After gaining success with alternative rock band The Sugarcubes, Björk made her solo debut with the aptly titled Debut in 1993, a unique mix of arty trip-hop and electronic influences which altered pop forever. Just two years later, she released the strikingly experimental Post, which incorporated even more influences and was produced alongside electronic and trip-hop icons from 808 State and Massive Attack.
Since then, Björk’s commitment to musical fluidity has persisted, experimenting with everything from classical to glitch. Each album has provided a new amalgamation of the avant-garde, accompanied by her soaring soprano vocals. She’s expanded this openness to the art surrounding, and outside of, her music, from music videos to costumes to live her work as an actor, featuring in Robert Eggers’ The Northman. The only predictable element of her artistry is how wildly unpredictable it is.
In an interview with The Talks. the singer discussed her fluidity in boh professional and political instances. When she was asked about the responsibility put on artists to champion certain movements, Björk stressed the power, individuality and complexity of personal politics and emphasised the importance of retaining a level of flexibility, concluding, “Bravery is this gut feeling to not coagulate or crystalise but to stay liquid.”
This approach also extends to her music. Björk explained her use of experimentation in relation to the production of her 2017 record, Utopia: “Well, for example, I did a little falsetto experiment on Utopia; more songs than usual are now sung like that, which is kind of hilarious! It was almost like a continuity of ‘Cocoon’, an old song of mine, where I was trying as a singer to get underneath the skin and break the barrier between the singer and the listener.”
Her sonic fluidity seems to stem from her openness to follow the threads that arise through experimentation, both musically and thematically. With Utopia in particular, she states, “I discovered that the sonic contrast on this album, the point where the fantasy and the real meet, is extreme. I guess that’s what the title Utopia is about. I like that the word has luggage. It is about your fantasy but also about how you mix reality into it, and how you do that is really descriptive of what kind of person you are. I’m curious about the gap between the two.”
This theme also seems to sit at the heart of all of Björk’s artistry – her music and visuals often sit in the gap between fantasy and reality. Always open to experiment and change, Björk’s commitment to following her gut feeling has served her artistry well. Her fluidity allows each new album to form a new discovery and experience, both for the artist and the audience.
