Björk’s five most avant-garde epics
Beyond the obvious reasons why she became one of the biggest and best avant-garde musicians in history, Björk also seems to have done it all. Not only does she understand how to connect nature with artistry, but she has also mastered the art of blending the organic and synthetic to create unique sonic streams of expression that reflect her emotional experiences and broader social consciousness.
Many songs come to mind when considering Björk’s more daring nature, but what was perhaps her most outlandish in terms of experimentalism was her record Biophilia, which presented her inner quest to find guidance in nature, exploring the parameters of what truly matters and our place when becoming starkly aware of our own insignificance. However, while this might allow despair to creep in for some, to Björk, there’s nothing more beautiful than perspective inferiority.
Throughout her entire discography, Björk has crafted a legacy and artistry rooted in existential ambiguity and the complexity of music, spotlighting some of life’s darker and less discussed layers while building an aesthetic based on defying easy categorisation. Even ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, an otherwise un-Björk hit that she later grew to regret, adheres to her usual unsettling nature, with vocals delivered more akin to a whisper than anything else.
Still, when venturing deeper into her more typically avant-garde epics, often her experimental execution flourishes less in the sonic arrangements but in her thematic exploration, particularly when she decidedly takes her heart and soul and places them in fragmented disarray, if only as a means of collecting them afterwards to see who she becomes in the broader process of vulnerability. Let’s take a look at five of her best moments.
Björk’s best avant-garde epics:
‘Mutual Core’
Exploring tectonic shifts wasn’t likely to intrigue an outsider, especially not to those discovering Björk’s music for the very first time. However, it’s difficult to tell whether Biophilia was designed to be liked in the first place or whether it was intended to be an eye-opening piece understood only by those ready to take the next level into existential understanding.
Still, many of its songs, including ‘Mutual Core’, prove Björk’s ability not only to test the musical waters but explore any topic she pleases, even if it means utilising the different definitions of tension in the contexts of nature to hold up a mirror to humanity. After all, if anybody on this planet understands the fact that there is little to understand except our own inability to acquire omnipresence, it’s Björk. And if anybody were to present this in a way that feels enlightening and sobering at the same time—it’s Björk.
‘Black Lake’
At just over ten minutes, Björk achieved with ‘Black Lake’ what most avant-garde musicians merely yearn for. While it is the longest song to appear on Björk’s albums, its longevity does little to answer all of the questions on the lips of those who listen, instead opening up new realms of heartache in the aftermath of a breakup and the loss of belonging and identity that follows.
Perhaps the most enticing thing about the song isn’t its themes or its run time but how Björk allows her emotions to bleed with more fervour as the song goes on, as though she is reaching for some relief amid the chaos. In other ways, it shows how, even with everything laid out before her, her disposition feels as raw as if it was pouring out of her for the first time, navigating a black hole even she isn’t sure how to break free from.
‘Oceania’
Understanding nature isn’t always about education and knowledge. In the artistic realms, understanding nature—at least from an empathetic perspective—comes from literally becoming the subject and trying to view the world differently. Though this may seem impossible to some, sometimes it’s merely about adjusting from a materialistic or commercial view to one with more basic instincts, as only then can we really know what it’s like to be anyone or anything other than ourselves.
Björk wrote ‘Oceania’ from the ocean’s point of view, not just because she believes all life emerged from its ecosystem but because it enabled her to explore humanity’s evolution and how we should all do better to see everybody as equals. As she explained: “The song is written from the point of view of the ocean that surrounds all the land and watches over the humans to see how they are doing after millions of years of evolution. It sees no borders, different races or religions, which has always been at the core of these games.”
‘All Is Full Of Love’
Songs about love, particularly when executed with a brush stroke so broad that they become about nothing, can often seem boring or ideas from half-baked minds. With ‘All Is Full Of Love’, however, Björk transcended the boundaries of traditional explorations of love through art with groundbreaking animation that blended the mythology of Ragnarök with the principle of new beginnings.
While many of Björk’s avant-garde epics flirt with the darker corners of life, ‘All Is Full Of Love’ presented something much more stark in its obvious beauty, showcasing the singer’s belief in love and how its place in music remains as relevant as ever. This persists even in its uplifting delicacy, with lines line: “You’ll be given love / You’ll be taken care of / You’ll have to trust it.”
‘Pagan Poetry’
In another swipe of vulnerability, ‘Pagan Poetry’ was Vespertine‘s unsuspecting masterpiece, stemming from a broader belief the singer held about the importance of sexual and emotional intimacy in relationships. In the song, she captures the complexity of such a marriage and how the two can operate in conflicting ways with an atmosphere that feels like an overwhelming blend of the two, showing that, sometimes, it’s difficult to decipher which is which.
But her themes of intimacy and love aren’t the only elements that make the song one of her most epic works. The use of music boxes and other unique instrumentation also lends the track an otherworldly and exotic quality—grounded in something familiar yet undeniably unique. Above all, the song is one that somehow always feels just out of reach, though perhaps that’s precisely the beauty of repeated listens.
