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Vespertine Released August 26 2001

Hidden Place Single
Released August 6th 2001
Pagan Poetry Single
Released November 5th 2001
Cocoon Single
Released March 11th 2002

 

Vespertine is..
Hidden place
Cocoon
It's not uptoyou
undo
Pagan Poetry
Frosti
Aurora
An echo A Stain
Sun in mymouth
Heirloom
Harm of will
Unison

Vespertine Singles
Hidden Place
Pagan Poetry
Cocoon

Vespertine B - Sides
Mother Heroic
Foot Soldier
Generous Palmstroke
Verandi
Our Hands
Who Is It?

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"This record is very much about inventing your own paradise, but underneath your kitchen table, so it's very secretive."

 

Björk Says New Record Allowed Her to Clear Her Head
By Eric Demby

For Björk, a master of the surreal and a citizen of her own musical universe, returning to the sonic realm after a beleaguered stint as an actress was a physical necessity.

"You know when you're working on a project but all your insides are made out of something completely different?" the elfin Icelandic singer wondered aloud, referring to her acclaimed but demanding role in last year's Dancer in the Dark. "It can become quite an intolerable pressure difference."

With Vespertine, her fourth full-length, set for an August release - following its predecessor, Homogenic, by more than three-and-a-half years - Björk is ready for music to overtake her psyche. The album (which she said referred to "things that happen in twilight") will be her first new music since the seven-song Selmasongs EP came out in September as the soundtrack to Dancer.

"It's a relief for me," she said, "after three years of doing the film to be back doing songs that are in my head: The same thing is happening on the outside as on the inside."

Despite being recorded around the globe, including sessions in London, New York, Spain, Denmark, and Iceland, during a tumultuous period for the singer/producer, Vespertine, according to Björk, is marked by its sense of calm. Even some of the song titles - "Cocoon," "Aurora," "Hidden Place" - suggest an inward turn as compared to the relative catharsis of Homogenic.

 "Homogenic for me was very emotionally confrontational and very dramatic," Björk said, "both in the melodic sense of the strings and the distorted beats; a lot of steroids in the air. Vespertine is sort of the opposite - very introverted, very quiet and peaceful, and at peace with one's self."

The slightly disjointed nature of the album's development, as well as the distraction of Dancer, forced Björk to turn to her laptop as her main compositional tool. It was a new technique for a producer accustomed to marathon studio sessions and the stamp of heavy production effects on most of her work. As with anything Björk does, however, she simply incorporated the situation into her internal fantasy world, then morphed it into something poignant.

"This record is very much about inventing your own paradise, but underneath your kitchen table, so it's very secretive," she explained. "It's sort of about being on your own in your house with your laptop and whispering for a year and just writing a very peaceful song that tiptoes."

That homey perspective, combined with the selection of acoustic instruments Björk chose for Vespertine, including the celeste, music box, and harp, was part of the reason she originally named the album Domestika, but she eventually scrapped that title as too literal.

"Hidden Place" will be the first single simply because it was the first of three videos for the album to be completed. The clip is the first directed by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, a Dutch couple living in New York who took the photographs for Björk's 1998 video collection, Volumen. Another song from the album, "Harm of Will," features lyrics written by director Harmony Korine, a friend of Björk's for the past three years, according to the singer.

Although she produced the new album on her own, Björk collaborated with her usual tandem of engineers and producer friends, including Mark Bell (who also worked on Depeche Mode's upcoming Exciter) and Guy Sigsworth. San Francisco avant-garde duo Matmos, who did a remix for the 1998 single release of Homogenic's "Alarm Call," also contributed to the album and will open for Björk on tour. Innovative New York harpist Zeena Parkins will also open shows during the tour.