Vulnicura

Poor Bjork, just want to give her a cuddle and a cup of tea.

Bjork has always passed me by - I recognise how talented and individual she is but nothing has ever reached me emotionally. It's sad to see though how poorly she has done with spurious 1/5 votes being handed out left, right and centre. For that reason I'm giving her 5/5 in an attempt to partially redress the balance.

This gave me so many chills. Literally made me forget to breathe once, haven't experienced this in a long time. Wanted to pick favorite songs at first, but after another listen I can't, they're all amazing.

cannot be arsed with byork at all. i get the vibe that anyone who is in to bjork is so far up their own arse that they've become a mobius loop. actually quite impressive.

While I can appreciate Björk as an artist, I can't say this album did much for me. A few of the songs were interesting, but it felt like it belonged more as background music for a film or something - not great listening on its own. I ended up skipping the last two songs because they were just a little grating.

I love Björk, even her weird stuff is brilliant. I reckon anything she does will get 5 🌟 from me. The world is a better place because Björk exists.

Had to listen to this a few times to make my mind up on the rating I had only heard notget before going into this but yeah I still love Björk if my mood was aligned I would like it even more but its still amazing

This was torture.

The second Bjork I listened to on this list and another one that's blowing me away. But where Vespertine is about the beautiful sides of love, this Vulnicura is about heartache. So dark and melancholic instead of romantic and tender, but just as mystical, intimate and strong. And it's the lyrics on this album that make it complete. We follow and listen to the story of a relationship that's failing. Björk is taking us from the months before the break-up to the times after. And some of the lyrics felt like a gutpunch, where the music is amazingly orchestrated around the parts of the decaying love in every song, whether we go from melancholy to pain to anger to relief. If I regret us I'm denying my soul to grow Don't remove my pain It is my chance to heal We carry the same wounds But have different cures The album grows and shows more with every listen. What a discovery.

Whoa... It has the experimentation and weirdness that I've come to expect from a Björk album, but it's not quite as weird as Medúlla (The one other Björk record the generator has given me so far). There's a recognisable structure here for the most part. I loved this. It's a cinematic, emotional blend of orchestral and electronic elements, making one hell of a breakup album. I'm such a sucker for good electronic sound design, and this proved itself to be absolutely amazing in the sound design department, especially going into the second half of the album. I'd imagine much of that is from Arca's involvement? I'm certainly going to have to look more into her work. Honestly, I think I'm really going to have to look more into Björk too. I'd imagine the generator will give me more of her work before it's done, but I'm really loving everything I've heard so far. Favourite: Notget

j’écoute Björk en rentrant chez moi avec un kebab délicieux dans mon sac à main girl i am LIVING

A stunning achievement - you get the sense we are hearing exactly what the artist wanted us to - a mix of digital and classical, enhanced by Bjork's incredible voice - soundscapes foreboding and consuming the listener as we are absorbed into Bjork's warped world. A work of art.

As someone who has always admired Björk from a distance but never listened to much of her music I read all these comments calling this a pretentious mess and thought "Ha! I bet they just don't understand REAL art. I'm sure I'll appreciate this!" But yeah, no, sorry, I think it's just pretentious. Personally I blame Arca, the production is just a total casino of noise, at times unbearably so. Sorry Björk, I want to love you but not like this... Not like this.

It's hard to deescribe the inteeresting musicality of Bjork. It was well worth the listen whatever the hell it was

Album by Bjork in the pretty specific style of Bjork. It might be a hit or miss at times, but oh boy, it was a massive miss on the occasion of Vulnicura. Maybe my musical taste is down in the gutter, but I just couldn't listen to it at all. I'm sorry Bjork, you are a better actor than musician.

This record makes my knees tremble. I wanked so hard that my helmet came off.

Björk's divorce album. Incredibly somber and intricate. Every sound, vocalization, timing is purposeful. More than just a mere breakup album, Bjork examines the more complex emotions surrounding divorce. Overwhelming grief and betrayal surrounds each song like a whirlwind. Goosebumps just experiencing this for the first time. How is she able to create such incredible works of art like this? Does the depths of her creative talent know no end? For all the Björk albums on this list, it gets hard to argue each one. Maybe Medúlla could've been cut, but having such a recent release be so impactful is such an impressive feat. Vulnicura earns it's spot easily.

Another great Bjork album, and I almost like it just as much as Homogenic. Initially was on the fence as there are some songs that were hard to get into. This still holds to some extent, but other tracks like Stonemilker, Lionsong and Blake Lake are exceptionally strong and compensate for a 5-star rating.

For some reason, I lost track of Bjork's endeavours after Vespertine, but I'm glad we got this one to check out. The sweeping production has echoes of Homogenic, which I like very much, and the songs are all engaging. Terrific album.

The first song starts out with the following lyrics, choked out syllable by syllable, over seemingly random meandering synthesizer strings: “A juxtapositioning fate / Find our mutual coordinates / Moments of clarity are so rare / I better document this / at last the view is fierce / all that matters is this / who is open chested / and who is coagulated” I’m just not sure how I can take that seriously. This is the second Bork album I’ve received in the 1st 75 days. I rated the 1st at 2/5, with the comments “I thought the first couple of songs were pretty good. Sort of an ambient, ethereal feel. But with each passing song it held my interest less and less. Just not really my ‘thing’. 2/5….” Well, the second album jumps straight into the bit about each song holding my interest less and less. This doesn’t offend me, I don’t hate it. But I sure don’t like it either. As with the prior Bork album, it’s just not my thing. I’m bored by this, and that’s disappointing. Frankly, as I get further through this, it’s starting to kind of irritate me. I’m taking a break at about 1/2 way through, but I’m not expecting it to improve…. - - - - It didn’t. I admit, I gave up somewhere in the middle of the 7th song. I guess I’m just not cool enough. 1/5

my first björk outside of her iconic 90s trilogy of albums. stunning.

I know Bjork rubs a lot of people the wrong way but if you look past the perceived "weirdness" of her style, she really is a brilliant artist. 'Vulnicura' may be her most mature release to date. In her early punk and electronic releases, she was recording in toilets at clubs. Since then she's grown and explored classical structures, world music and the avant garde and brought all of that experience into this release. This is a break up album unlike any you've heard before, particularly notable as it comes from an older woman, rather than the likes of Taylor Swift. In some ways it's a shame that this challenge doesn't have more of Bjork's early work, which is more fun to listen to. But this is definitely an impressive work of art.

The vagina on her chest represents the gaping hole where her heart once existed. A fitting image for an album tackling multiple layers of emotional loss, gleaning from the experience, and moving forward. Having an idea of what to expect, I still was very surprised by this album's depth which does not fully reveal itself requiring the listener to take some time and peel it apart. Vulnicura is definitely a slow burn that works very well as a whole to the point where I couldn't tell you which song would be my favorite as all of it is excellent. I was most impressed by the arrangement of strings and synth in which Björk seemingly conjures and bends to her will, while managing to be relatable, conversational, and yet very alien. I would seriously like to know how some of these songs look on paper, how they were conceived and measured out. In all, I want to embrace the poor woman but stand in fear that she would devour me like a terrifying monster.

My last Bjork album (I think Post should be on the list too but what do I know) and this is a difficult one but it's about a difficult time in her life.

La fée dans la forêt

So, it turns out I'm a Bjork fan

If you gaze long enough into the Bjork, the Bjork gazes also into you.

Fine enough I guess. But unless there are four (4??) Björk albums in this list, this should’ve been “Post” instead. It’s significantly more important to her sound imo, and is just a better album/listening experience. Listen to “Post”, please.

Tough one to rate. I liked this a lot better than Medúlla, which is admittedly a low bar. This one has some good hooks and interesting orchestral parts. I might actually like it under the right circumstances. Weirdly reminded me of the Hollow Knight soundtrack (which I loved). Unfortunately, this isn’t universal throughout. Not sure what “Family” or “Notget” were. I do think it was intentionally uncomfortable though, even though some of it id just weird for weirdness’ sake. I’ll give Björk this, though: one thing she definitely isn’t is boring.

Anyone who says they are a big fan of Björk…. I would love to see their record collection. I don’t see how anyone can get into this. This album in particular lost my interest quickly. Songs that drone on and on and appear to end and then come back but usually the same as before they left. Was there no one around to edit this? Was the motto, “play until you have played too long and then play a little longer”? Or “Let’s take a few good ideas and drag them out until no one likes them anymore”? I can’t imagine playing this in the car or working out to it or cleaning the house to it or putting it on at a party or falling asleep to it or ever wanting to hear this. It is confused, angry music for someone who feels like no one understands them and they can put this on and draw angry spirals on their notebooks while wearing all black and hating the world. I can see pouty, goth, teenage girls listening to this while plotting revenge. That’s about the only use there is for this. And even for those girls, I think they would get out of their funk and never go back to listen to this again. Just unpleasant.

I fucking hated this. Aimless string vomit and purposeless techno farts frame pretentious mispronunciation. I thought I despised Bjork beforehand but this takes it to an unimaginable new level. Who likes this shit, honestly?

I'll chalk this one up to the 1000 albums I should die before I hear. Bjork is just not enjoyable. Not only is it not enjoyable but I have to suffer through 8-11 min songs. Jebus. It's beyond me that there are people who buy her albums. In what mood does one have to be to want to listen to this? I hope I'm never in that mood.

There's a certain type of guy who is attracted to Björk. They're invariably weird nerds who obsess over left of centre garbage and pretend that mainstream beauty is actually ugly. I don't think it's any surprise that there are like 5 Björk albums here, because music journalists are definitely THAT KINDA GUY. This album was more of the same Björk nonsense. Odd electronica with Björk ignoring accepted English syllable stress patterns over the top. Hopefully this is the last of her here. Surely. 1/5.

Too many Bjorrrrk albums on herrrre. This isn't one of the betterrrrr ones. 🏴‍☠️

How the fuck does this have an average score below 3?! This album is a masterpiece. This lady is heartbroken, and you're giving low scores because she's interesting? (I assume). I'm sorry that it's too challenging for you Men. Anyhow, it's not my absolute favourite Björk album but it's deffo up there. Just heartbreaking and gorgeous with those beautiful strings xx

a cloud hangs over Björk on Vulnicura. this comes four albums and 13-ish years after Vespertine, a lovesick affair which is arguably her masterpiece. that album saw her falling head-over-heels for the same person Vulnicura documents her separation from. "Black Lake" deals with the demise of this relationship with particularly stark, heartbreaking imagery: "My heart is enormous lake, black with potion / I am blind, drowning in this ocean / My soul torn apart, my spirit is broken / Into the fabric of all he has woven." the music underpinning Björk's dissection of her feelings leading up to (and after) the breakup mainly consists of plaintive, downtrodden choirs and strings, alongside glittering electronics. the latter facet often comes courtesy of The Haxan Cloak and (especially) Arca; rounding out the list of collaborators is ANOHNI, whose guest appearance on "Atom Dance" is an unbelievable showcase of her utterly unique voice. as much as I adore this music, it's definitely pretty harrowing! even "Notget", the closest thing Vulnicura gets to a "banger", is a song about how the love in her life was the only thing keeping her "safe from death." but, even if I don't return to it as much as her more upbeat or abrasive albums, I still think that one could make the case that this is her finest hour. the music on this album oozes heartbreak, and Björk's unmistakable lyricism helps her navigate said heartbreak in a way that only she could. strong 9/10.

Devastating

I just love Björk's annunciation, her phrasing, her accent, her tone. I could listen to Björk sing the phone book. This is my second Björk album after Debut and I found it a bit less accessible and a little less trippy. But the production and sound is great. Definitely headphone music though, and something that needs proper listening to. For Björk though, I'll do it.

This is possibly the most unoriginal take but Björk has such a beautiful and unique voice that mixed with the intense music is spectacular. I need to be in the right mood for it but when I am it hits perfectly.

Another Bjork album that has some super interesting and beautiful moments but a bunch of parts that are a little too out there for me to truly love it. Think this one is on par with vespertine and a little better than medulla and debut, but not quite good enough for a 5

Wildly interesting and very complex. I do like a bit of Drum and Bjass. Njot bjad

Vulnicura I don’t think I’ve ever actually listened to a Björk album before. Which is strange as she makes the kind of music I like, but I think it’s probably a product of my teenage brain not understanding her back in the 90s and then never really getting round to trying any of her albums. I’m not sure if this is the best album to start with, but I thought it was great, getting better each time. It’s hard not to use words like icy and glacial to describe the music, as it’s probably too on the nose for someone from Iceland, but the detached coolness of the music; the strings, the synths, the discordant fractured rhythms and percussion against the very personal and expressive lyrics is a great combination. It’s kind of moving, chilly, distant and uplifting at the same time. It feels a grower, its not immediately melodic, but the tunes do start to burrow into your brain through the textures, and it probably works best as whole piece rather than individual tracks, as the more austere and crawling first half evolves into the spikier and more rhythmic second half, with some more melodic string parts. I think it needs to sit a little longer, and I’m keen to give it some more listens with some space in between but it’s a solid 4 for now. 🇮🇸 🇮🇸 🇮🇸 🇮🇸 Playlist submission: Atom Dance

It's Bjork, never know what your going to get. Liked not loved it

Near paralyzingly brooding, but I feel like it had a hair too much bloat to earn a 5th star. But hey, Bjork really knows how to get you thinking no matter what.

Well I braced myself for yet another Björk album but thankfully it was one of the good ones. With Björk it has been either good or terrible - you don’t know if you’re going to get food or an uppercut to the chin. This one is actually one of the better better ones - cinematic - almost conventional - and a semblance of recognisable structure - so I actually enjoyed it. It’s still Björk mind you - unmistakable - but if one can tolerate her - one would like this one - and actually find reason to return to it.

This is a rather beautiful album. I can't go 5 because it's really iis an album that you have to be in the mood to hear. A solid 4 for sure.

I remember the hype this album received when it was due to come out: "this is Björk's breakup album", "this is her most personal album ever", yada yada yada. And while most breakup albums become tedious, maudlin and vapid at times, Björk always finds a way to make things interesting. It's as though you're right in front of her as she belts out about the pain experienced in her family falling apart and you have next to no choice but to immerse yourself in her sadness that's aided by her ever reliable collaborative spirit that combines orchestration and electronics. Overall, not an easy listen but one can hope that things turn out for the best. Favorites: Stonemilker, History of Touches, Black Lake, Notget, Atom Dance, Quicksand.

8/9

Interesting, as björk often is

Lionsong is cool. Bjork songs are so hit or miss to me, always these huge swings and their either connect hard or miss the mark. Atom Dance is cool.

Rolling her Rs, singing in Icelandish, trippy modern art sounds, halting phrases, a pervasive sense of sorrow and loneliness and loss... yep! Typical Bjork!

I mean, it's Björk so it's going to sound different. Parts are interesting, parts sound like they should be on a movie soundtrack, parts sound experimental, parts are annoying bordering on unlistenable, it's a Björk album. Another not really bad yet not really good album on this list.

As the album continued, I enjoyed it more and more. Definitely a 'moods' album (not sure if 'moods' needed quotations, but I'm leaving them there anyways).

This really started off like I was really going to like it. First 3 (and maybe 4 songs) had me invested. Then it kinda just went a little too hard off the deep end and being artsy. Had a Radiohead feeling in some of the tracks. 3/5. I’d say I liked this more Stylistically then I did song wise

Surprisingly accessible given her other efforts, but maybe that’s just my fatigue from the last round of singles being played constantly at the station. I will give credit to Björk for carving a niche that is unmistakably her own - while hard to nail down, the instrumentation and arrangements she builds on would be recognizable immediately in any context. This LP definitely suffers due to tracks running longer than the ideas that fuel them remain interesting, but for such an out-there album I found myself jamming along decently well. Given the fatigue that comes with listening to 1001 albums (some seemingly identical to one another in their blandness), I appreciate any artist who doesn’t give two fucks about respecting Western arrangements or ideas of what music should be, even if the execution is not always my thing or their name sounds like a lamp from IKEA.

I can handle this in small doses. The first song was ok. After that I could not wait for it to be over with.

I really thought I would be into this. And I think I would be if it weren't a work day and I was tripping or something instead. As with all other Bjork, her accent is tough for me to follow lyrics at times so relying only on beat/melodies, it just wasn't doing it for me. I liked Atom Dance, not much else, but I did add a few other songs to my "weird and wonderful" playlist, which I rarely listen to, but love it for when I'm in a specific mood. For this, it gets 2 instead of 1.

Three oblique analogies will serve. Our friends Howard, Matt and Matt saw “Dancer in the Dark” with me on release, a very enjoyable time as the film infuriated the Matts to an audible extent, and they ranted beautifully afterwards, goaded by my mild praise. An afternoon of improvised interpretative dance workshop in Paris for the love of a fiancée, harrowing for one unschooled in dance and primitive in French, left me with respect for the form and the relief of knowing I’d played my lifetime role in it. A few months later, breaking up with me on the walk down from a weekend monasterial retreat (also for love, silent aside from prayers and Bible chat, French), my ex-fiancée asked me to stop using analogies as I tried to talk our way out of it.

not really interesting to me. not unpleasant to listen to but i didn't feel much with this one. sorry björk i still love you

Böring.

Man orkar med några låtar men sen blir det för ostrukturerat.

Far from Bjork's best work. Really disappointed with this as we usually enjoy Bjork but this did not deliver. Couldn't get into it at all.

Artsy-fartsy and, unfortunately, more fartsy than artsy.

I like the versatility and vulnerability of her voice, but I don't understand her music.

As tedious as it is to have Bjork on this list so many times the one quality of her work is the string arrangements. Otherwise, please stop.

I have no idea why she's on the list so many times.

A true masterpiece

### Overview *Vulnicura* is Björk’s eighth studio album, released unexpectedly in early 2015 following a digital leak. Conceived as a “healing documentary” about the dissolution of her 13-year relationship with artist Matthew Barney, the album maps emotional trauma with clinical precision. Where previous Björk albums experimented with character (*Vespertine*’s domestic bliss, *Medúlla*’s raw flesh, *Biophilia*’s natural science), *Vulnicura* strips away metaphor to confront heartbreak head-on. It is arguably her most painfully direct and sonically cohesive work since *Homogenic*. --- ### Lyrics: Cartography of Grief The lyrics are structured like a medical chronology. Björk even provided a timeline in the liner notes: six months before, at zero, three months after, nine months after, etc. Each song occupies a precise emotional stage. - **Pre-breakup (“Stonemilker”):** She senses the fracture but cannot articulate it. “Who is open-chested / And who has coagulated?” – a stunning image of emotional availability versus defensive hardening. - **The rupture (“Lionsong”):** Ambivalence and false hope. “Maybe he will come back / But maybe he won’t” – delivered with unsettling calm. - **The aftermath (“Black Lake”):** The centerpiece – a ten-minute excavation of suicidal numbness. “I am not hurting you anymore / Now I am stuck in this lake of black tar” – the tar as both tomb and stasis. - **Healing begins (“Family,” “Notget”):** “We have light / We have light” repeats over a glacial bass, suggesting survival without forgetting. “Notget” even flirts with vengeful reincarnation: “I will not forget / This fist.” Her vocabulary is visceral (veins, wounds, scabs, lava) yet forensic (chronology, diagnosis, prognosis). The weakness: occasional awkward phrasing (“our love was our house / I can’t live there”) can feel less poetic than other Björk works, but this bluntness may be intentional – trauma rarely speaks in elegant metaphors. --- ### Music & Arrangement: Strings, Beats, and Void *Vulnicura* reunites Björk with producer **Arca** (Alejandro Ghersi) and mixer **The Haxan Cloak** (Bobby Krlic). The sonic palette is stark: mournful string arrangements (courtesy of Björk herself, later scored by Una Sveinbjarnardóttir), skeletal electronic beats, and occasionally corrosive bass. - **Strings:** Borrowing from *Homogenic*’s volcanic strings but slowed to a funeral pace. In “Black Lake,” violas and cellos mimic breathing – long, shuddering bows that swell then retreat, as if the music itself is hyperventilating. - **Arca’s influence:** His signature is everywhere – glitching, granular synthesis, beats that feel organic and broken. “Mouth Mantra” features a percussion track made from Björk’s own vocal clicks and dental sounds (teeth chattering, saliva). The result is uncomfortably intimate. - **Björk’s voice:** Stripped of the usual vocal acrobatics for much of the album. She sings low, vulnerable, sometimes flat-adjacent (“Lionsong”) by design – to convey exhaustion. Only on “Atom Dance” (featuring Antony Hegarty) does she soar into her upper register, signaling tentative release. **Musical highlight:** The transition from “Family” into “Notget” – a sub-bass drop that feels like a heart restarting after flatline. --- ### Production: Negative Space as Instrument The Haxan Cloak’s mix favors negative space. Reverb tails are long but the center is often dry and close-miked (Björk’s voice inches from the mic). Electronic elements are not “glitch for glitch’s sake” but emotional markers: - In **“Black Lake,”** after nine minutes of despair, a single digital stutter cuts in – like a record skipping on pain. - **“Quicksand”** closes the album with a reversed harp loop and a pitched-down vocal sample (Björk’s own daughter singing “Mama”), suggesting that healing is not linear but cyclical. The production is dense but not cluttered. Every sound has a psychological reason to exist. --- ### Themes: Heartbreak, Betrayal, Survival, and the Gendered Gaze 1. **Time as wound & healer:** The chronological structure denies catharsis; you cannot skip stages. “History of Touches” (a song about the last time they had sex) is explicitly timestamped – a museum exhibit of a corpse. 2. **Betrayal without blame:** Remarkably, Björk never names Barney or details infidelity (though press later confirmed infidelity). Instead, she explores *the feeling of betrayal* – the collapse of shared language (“Stonemilker”), the shock of being suddenly unknown to oneself (“Mouth Mantra”: “My mouth is a scar / It’s a mantra”). 3. **The female body as battlefield:** “Mouth Mantra” uses dental imagery to explore silencing and control. “Notget” turns the womb into a threat (“this fist will not forget”). The album refuses to make female suffering noble – it is ugly, repetitive, and physically real. --- ### Influence *Vulnicura* arrived at a moment when “sad girl” electronic music (Lana Del Rey, Lorde, FKA twigs) was gaining critical mass, but Björk’s directness – no irony, no aestheticized misery – set it apart. - **Immediate influence:** Artists like **Weyes Blood** (the orchestral sadness of *Titanic Rising*), **Eartheater** (glitched vocal processing and trauma lyrics), and **Lingua Ignota** (classical devastation meets industrial rage) all owe a debt to *Vulnicura*’s tonal courage. - **Rehabilitation of “confessional” art:** In an era of curated social media grief, *Vulnicura* showed that raw, unpolished emotional excavation could still be avant-garde. - **Orchestral electronic fusion:** Paved the way for later works like **Serpentwithfeet**’s *Soil* and **Kelsey Lu**’s *Blood*. --- ## Pros and Cons | **Pros** | **Cons** | |----------|----------| | **Emotional authenticity** – Perhaps the most honest breakup album ever made by a major artist. No sugar-coating, no revenge fantasy (except “Notget”’s clenched fist). | **Relentless heaviness** – The album’s 71 minutes offer little respite. Even “Atom Dance,” the most hopeful track, feels tentative. Not an easy listen. | | **Lyrical precision** – The medical/chronological framing is brilliant, turning private pain into universal architecture. | **Occasional lyrical flatness** – Lines like “I loved him / He loved me” (“Family”) feel undercooked by Björk’s standards, though arguably intentional. | | **Arca & Björk synergy** – A perfect marriage of experimental production and emotional narrative. The glitches *are* the psychology. | **Accessibility** – For casual listeners, the slow tempos, dissonant strings, and arrhythmic beats can feel alienating. Not “pop” in any conventional sense. | | **Cohesion** – Unlike the scattershot *Biophilia* or *Medúlla*, *Vulnicura* maintains a single mood from start to finish. | **Live performance limitations** – Many songs lose power without the studio’s precise electronic textures. The *Vulnicura Live* album is great, but the strings often overwhelm the subtle glitches. | | **Bravery in vulnerability** – Björk sings off-center, broken, and raw. She risked “ugly” emotions (resentment, numbness, self-pity) and turned them into art. | **Length of “Black Lake”** – At 10 minutes, it’s magnificent but exhausting. Some feel the final third meanders without new insight. | --- ## Final Verdict **Rating: 9.2/10** *Vulnicura* is not an album you “enjoy” – it is an album you *survive* alongside. It trades Björk’s usual whimsy for a scalpel, dissecting heartbreak until nothing is left but raw tissue and the faint, stubborn hope of healing. Its flaws (occasional lyrical bluntness, punishing emotional weight) are inseparable from its virtues. In confronting her own devastation without flinching, Björk created one of the 21st century’s definitive breakup albums – a work that makes you feel not less alone, but more honestly alone. And that, paradoxically, is its greatest gift. **Recommended for:** Fans of *Homogenic*, Arca, FKA twigs, Nick Cave’s *Skeleton Tree*, or anyone processing grief who wants art that does not look away.

She’s the best living musician. No doubt about it.

honestly a little surprised that i'm listening to björk today. this is björk's eighth album release, and it's centered around the breakup of fellow musician matthew barney. leave it to someone like björk to really get gradiose with her emotions.... like most of her work, this entry is quite surreal and otherworldly, her distinctive voice, and biiiiiig strings, both acoustic and electric fill the album's runtime. it's like taking a venture directly into her mind as she sings about her experiences and feelings about this period of her life. don't get put off by the more faint, and... well... ambient instrumentation, björk is VERY direct. she's kinda confronting you and exposing herself at her most vulnerable and personal levels. her past albums are a lot more whimsical, poetic and full of tongue-twisting ideas but this album is straight up talking about her feelings in plain english. and i found it captivating, really. there's a sister album that goes along with this one... i might have to check that out too.

How did I miss this release? Seriously, WTF is wrong with me? I thought _Vespertine_ was the finest work that Bjõrk had done. Forgive me, Bjõrk, for my aural blinders (is earmuffs a better word hear?) This is an absolutely transcendent album.

the singular most inventive album of all time. harrowing storytelling and production and some of the best sound design of any album ever. bjork and arca are a force to be reckoned with.

Lost track a bit of Björk’s work but this is a great album. Challenging at times and emotionally charged. Really enjoyed the orchestration working well with her voice. Rewards repeat listening.

Dream team of Bjork, Arca, and The Haxan Cloak. Possibly Bjork’s best record? Lionsong kills me.

I like to pretend that I understand and appreciate Bjork's music but really I just think she's cool and want to be her friend.

Ohhoh! Enpä voi tunnustaa Björkiä aiemmin juuri kuunnelleeni, kuullut ehkä joskus jotain yksittäisiä biisejä. Ennakkoluulot olivat vahvat, odotin melkoista taidepläjäystä. Ja sellainen sieltä totisesti tulikin, tosin vain hyvin eri tavalla, kuin odotin. Odotin ehkä ”tekotaiteellista paskaa” mutta sainkin melkoisen musiikillisen seikkailun. Avausraita oli heti todella vangitseva ja levy piti otteessaan koko kestonsa ajan. Vaatii keskittymistä, ei toimi tsustamusana. Mutta kannattaa kuunnella, palkitsee ja isosti. Björkin ääni ja melodiataju on jotain aika omalaatuista. Mahtava levy! 5/5

Très bel album que je ne connaissais pas. Donne très envie de le réécouter.

I was going to give this a 4 for complex internal reasons but there is a sound in the middle of the track Atom Dance that gave me chills, full body goosebumps. Unbelievable

My second Bjork, and I'm thrilled this popped up. The ambience is immaculate, dark and emotionally charged. Opener Stonemilker is so good, immediately immersive with strings and a drum beat full of reverb, like echoes in the depth of a cave. Lionsong has a nice hook and introduces glitchy, stuttering beats. It gets a bit more avant-garde, and the synths in History of Touches are icy, fragmented. She wrote this about the end of a relationship, but it could be the soundtrack to an alien world. Black Lake is again cold and deep, strings seemingly locked in combat with the mechanical sounding drums. This time, the strings win the battle, but it feels like a stay of execution. Later, the powerful Atom Dance is a touch more whimsical, but then Mouth Mantra is harsh and oppressive. The drums increase in intensity again in the closer Quicksand. It's frenetic. Strings, as always, abruptly cutting at the end. Unresolved tension. No one sounds quite like Bjork, and this has depth and nuance to it. It's a fantastic collection of soundscapes. Don't expect a lot of catchy melodies though. The album cover is fire too.

Que te puedo decir, Björk es madre y siempre lo será. Este disco alteró mi química cerebral desde que fui a la experiencia inmersiva del mismo jsjaja Gracias por dar a luz esta obra bjorkcita woaos

Buckle up for outer space kiddo.

Vulnicuraing on it

#32/1001 🇮🇸 Bjork's break up album is never an easy listen lyrically. Its her in the darkest place of all her albums. Musically it combines sparse electronic beats with haunting strings to great effect, most notably on Black Lake. Bjork is undoubtedly one of my favourite musicians and has the ability to make me laugh and cry with her deeply personal lyrics. I was intrigued and blown away the first time i heard the Sugarcubes on late night tv, then totally hooked from the first time i caught Human Behaviour on MTV. I get that she divides opinion - just read the other reviews here, but life would be boring if music never evolved or stepped outside its lanes. Best tracks: Black Lake, Stonemilker, Atom Dance

really honest and raw but with insanely good production and harmony's. Genuinely an insane sonic experience with a perfect blend of emotion and experimentation. I wouldn't casually put this on and you do need to sit down and listen to it but an insanely good album

4.5/5

no te pases de verga bjork, qué increíble album - las percusiones y las cuerdas me están dando un viajesote por el tiempo tqm

Really fascinating album. She's really doing something different here and I like it. So many strange things going on in the music, and I think it works. I need to revisit Vespertine after this. 4.5/5.0: Excellent

-ough fuck yeahh… i have cried many a time while listening to this album. some of Björk’s best work imo, sooo emotionally raw and heartbreaking. fuck Matthew Barney fr -definitely her most impressive post-2010 album imo. anything she does with strings is always incredible… 4.5 but leaning toward 5 -Favorites: Lionsong, History Of Touches, Black Lake, Family, Atom Dance

So nice I listened thric

As someone who considers myself a fan of Bjork, I've owed this a listen for a while. Vulnicura is on the shortlist of greatest Bjork albums in the eyes of many, so I was pretty excited going in, and my expectations were well exceeded. The last Bjork album I listened to was Debut, and I've heard several projects between these two, but the distance is still pretty astounding. After Homogenic, Bjork's music seemed to largely get more and more abstract as a rule of thumb: to divisive, but generally fascinating results. And here, the experimentation is emotionally grounded to her processing the end of the long-term relationship she had with Matthew Barney. This lends the album an emotional intensity and a relatability that tethers things, even if you aren't into the aesthetic here (although, I fortunately am). The sound here consists largely of jittering, rubbery electronic elements, and gorgeous strings: and Bjork herself lives somewhere between the two. This very much follows in the tradition of Bjork's other albums of the 21st century, in which she ensures that she is constantly at the forefront of advancement in electronic music. Here she brings on Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and they deliver: the electronics here are pretty much completely alien, invoking strange, slick forms. But, when juxtaposed with the strings, a beauty greater than either emerges. This really is a beautiful album, and Bjork's phrasing plays into it. She drifts, in her own signature way, over, through and around the music here as her chilly voice takes on way more warmth than you'd think. And her lyrics are as brilliant and idiosyncratic as can be expected of Bjork at this time. For how dense this sounds, it's deceptively simple: electronics, strings, Bjork, and this palette gives the album a really impressive cohesiveness. it almost just runs as a single work. That being said, I do have favorites. Black Lake unfolds beautifully over the course of 10 minutes. Family embraces a uniquely harrowing, jagged sound. Notget features some of the album's most fascinating textures, and it has some of the most intense and emotionally stirring melodies of the album (in my opinion). And Atom Dance features a gorgeous duet with other 1001 albums inductee Anhoni. But there's nothing here that even approaches bad, or even mediocre. There is an attention to detail and level of expertise over the soundscapes that sets the level of quality here *incredibly* high. This kind of just has to be a 5, it's really astounding art.

this album is art art isn't something you can always digest easily

This was great. I love Bjork's sound and the way she sings and writes is really unlike anyone else I've ever heard (and possible anyone who's ever lived, haha). The sound of this music is so lush and well-recorded and her vocals and lyrics are just so amazingly bold and melodic and great. There was one segment of multipart vocals (performed amazingly by Bjork) in Lionsong that absolutely blew my mind in terms of their musicality, creativity and coolness. I had never heard a single one of these songs before and I listened to the whole album twice because I loved it so much. Five stars.

astounding

This is wild. You cannot listen to this while doing anything else. You cannot have this on in the background. You might hate it.

Lion song is 10 stars

An audio masterpiece. The production is perfect. The whole album feels terribly claustrophobic. Björk sings as if every note is her last breath. It's truly mezmorizing. I love the beats combined with the strings. Björk has a special way of always sounding incredibly unique and one upping her previous albums weirdness. GOAT artist

Like floating on an electric cloud

It’s bjork

This is fucking awesome.

Great for late nights