News about the upcoming Björk album Volta.

still think it should have been called 'eglyg'

wow lex, you don't like Hyperballad? that's craaaaaazy! you in particular i'm surprised.

so guys i'm just listening to Volta, really haven't listened enuf yet but i think my first reaction is to the sprawling tunes. i wish she would go with the groove of a tune more, instead of letting her vox meander into oblivion. and the duet with antony seems kind of repetitive... more 2 come

i have to say tho, that even though at first Declare Independence seemed i don't know kinda dumb, it progresses into bliss. really, bliss.

so OK, on the other hand... lol this is such an On The Other Hand album

at least u can't call this album bad becuz it's cheesy, which is good. if anything, it seems to take the complexity that is bjork, and make it even more complicated. hyper beats, discombobulation and sprawl almost say to me: Okay, this is what I can do, and I'm not gonna pretend otherwise.

she's always been about her abilities, u know? On Medulla, she felt ABLE to do voice, and went with that all the way. i feel like on this, her abilities were very free form, so she went with it. i like having it on, so far.

I know a lot of people hate Anthony's voice, and it's certainly very wierd and affected. But for me, I think "The Dull Flame of Desire" is likely to be one of my fave songs for the year. There's really something to the vocal chemistry there. I don't know if I could handle him on his own, though, since I haven't had the opportunity to check his solo stuff out.

yeah, i really can't stand antony and his johnson. i do like his stuff on volta, though. very nice.

yeah i actually do like the volta antony... not bad quality to that, but i haven't quite come around to the song yet

But I've always thought Post was very consistent. "Cover Me" and "Headphones" are amazing, totally underrated tracks.

-- Tim F

yeah, I'm definitely doing them a disservice with the pretty bad way I was describing them above, I think I was trying to aim at the way they're (awesomely) half-way between ambient sound experiments and actual songs... maybe more gloop than trifle(?) it still feels like underexplored territory somehow and really hard to categorise.

I do hope Björk forgets how to make a "Björk song" sometime soon and remembers how to conjure a bit of mystery & depth in her music again, frills be damned, collaborators irrelevant, she's perfectly capable of doing it without even needing 'interesting' sonics imo.

still not really loving Volta... solid 7/10, not without moments, overall a bit flat & unconvincing/unexciting and the drop to 7/10 is from somewhere off-the-scale so yeah, it's difficult to really feel pleased about it's existence, let alone that she thinks it's worthy of touring around the bloody world for 18 months :/

Agreed - Volta is still a bit of a letdown, despite some very nice tunes. None of them reach my Björk top twenty though.

"Pneumonia" is a really nice song.

I'm not sure if the worthy-of-touring thing has anything to do with Volta, more with the fact that she released an album and feels like touring. The NY show with more guests seemed to have more Volta material, but when I saw her there was a stretch of about ten songs in the middle from past albums!

yeah it's probably got more to do with my own expectations being unfeasibly high perhaps... it is also the first 'proper' tour for (some of) the Medulla material too I guess. Just looks like Greatest Hits part 2 though somehow.

i like parts of volta but it sounds too much like bjork revisiting parts of her back catalogue (the snow-trudging sounds on one track make me think of vespertine)

here's what i like about volta, given the semi-ridiculous sprawling nature of these tunes: i think it allows bjork a lot of exploration.

she has said "i sing the only way i can," and i think she's taken that even further here. on some tunes it sounds like she's making it up as she goes along, but i can appreciate that.

also the beats are hot.

and at least she hasn't gone all cheesy (gosh what would THAT sound like?) at least it's only a cutting-edge-but-still-on-the-cutting-room-floor kind of a problem.

Feels like that array of famed collaborators wasn't such a good idea - as if they have an idea of what they think a Björk song should shound like, and make something that sounds a little dated and unoriginal rather than let her evolve the way she has done on her other records.

Innocence

the vinyl of this in my local store is almost sixty bucks.

HUEG sticker...

If this album didn't have "The Dull Flame of Desire" and "Declare Independence" on it, I would say it's a masterpiece. As it stands, it's okay. DEFINITELY better than Medulla, about on par with Vespertine and Debut, not nearly as grand as Post, Homogenic or Selmasongs.

Ugh, "Dull Flame of Desire." I'd rather listen to "Ancestors" over and over.

THIS IS VERY TRUE. Gremlin-fucking >>>>> adenoidal drawl

declare independence is so beautiful, def a highlight - and i could never call Volta on par with Debut and Vespertine! she actually found grooves on those albums.

"Declare Independence" is teh badassery.

Innocence will be released as a single on the 23rd of july! The tracks are as follows:

innocence01. Innocence - Mark Stent radio edit
02. Innocence - Simian Mobile Disco remix radio edit
03. Innocence - Carsten Nicolai Alva Noto Unitxt remodel 12" remix
04. Innocence - Ghostigital Untouchable Innocence Still Amazes12" remix
05. Innocence - Simian Mobile Disco remix 12"
06. Innocence - Mark Stent Instrumental
07. Innocence - Simian Mobile Disco dub remix

Simian Mobile School Disco!! fucks sake woman.

"Declare Independence" tripled in value after seeing it live at Roskilde. Actually, that goes for about every song she performed from Volta - don't know why, but I felt I 'understood' them.

I must have said this a few times already, but it bears repeating: Innocence!!!!!!!!!! i can't come up with any good descriptors for the reaction, but i can't stop playing it.

I second that.

definitely, it's become on of my favorite Bjork songs ever, easy.

so yeah this album is really pleasant to listen to for me, i love all the horns and stuff. please, please forgive me if i'm repeating myself, my memory is no good when it comes to these things.

yeah, the carefully orchestrated horn/guitar/ambient soundscapes work really well for me. and even tho the hooks are REALLY HARD to sink into at first, they have definitely evolved. i even found myself singing really passionately that part "the intentions were pure - ooooooh." at first a part like that seemed rather impenetrable(?).

has anyone heard the INNOCENCE REMIXes yet?

Best song on this one is "Vertebrae by Vertebrae".

YES i do love that. SEE but that's my point it's like at first i was COMPLETELY lost there, and now it's like suspenseful and rich and gratifying

is "The Dull Flame Of Desire" supposed to sound like broken CD?

You are seriously on crack

i must have a dud copy.

Wanderlust is seriously the best thing on this album, but you freaked me out and I thought there were new bjork rumours or something, don't do that to me, I was resigned to the fact that we were gonna be waiting another five years easy.

i very much disagree about Wanderlust. i find it heavy and plodding. but the rest of this album does indeed make me very happy, after a little time.

alas this still hasn't "clicked" for me.

i could really deal without antony's voice on this song

Antony ruins everything. Still pissed about the Hercules & Love Affair album.

really the entirety of "dull flame of desire" is tepid bullshit

like, a melody that meandering isn't really a melody

i don't remember anything from volta, except for earth intruders. been listening to some other bjork lately though, you could make a completely killer album out of the best vespertine & medulla tracks.

I listened to "The Dull Flame of Desire" in its entirety for the second time ever yesterday. Playing it on headphones helps a tiny bit.

"The Dull Song of Desire"

yea i was just gonna say, the title doesn't help

you could make a completely killer album out of the best vespertine & medulla tracks.

Correction -- you could make two completely killer albums. FYI, they both exist and are titled Vespertine and Medulla.