For almost thirty years, the Icelandic musician Bjork has been changing the game in music. With her debut album gaining worldwide success and her sophomore album reaching even more audiences, her music has done wonders for listeners’ creativity. Bjork has been inspiring others since the start of her solo career, reaching artists such as Frank Ocean, SZA and even Elton John. Her work explores the intersections between technology, art, science, mathematics and music. Throughout her years as a solo artist, her music has grown into more of an electric sound, now with her tenth album “Fossora,” released Sept. 2022, we see a deeper side of Bjork, one who is looking at her life through the eyes of a woman, mother and daughter. The title “Fossora’– Latin for digger– hints at the feelings and experiences that Bjork shares throughout the album where loss, sorrow, love and regret all meet with the use of nature imagery, including cocoons, the forest floor, fungi, mountains, the beach soil and roots. The mixture of Bjork’s electric voice, poetic lyrics and sensual instrumentals leads to one shared conclusion of this album by fans: it’s extraordinarily beautiful.
Two of the songs, “Sorrowful Soil” and “Ancestress” are tributes to Bjork’s mother, activist Hildur Runa Hauksdottir, who passed away in 2018. “Sorrowful Soil” was written before Bjork’s mother passed and appears to be her take on a traditional Icelandic eulogy from a matriarchal account, one that tells her mother’s story from a biological and emotional view. “Ancestress” was written after her mother’s passing and features her son, Sindri, singing with her. The song tells the story of the love between Bjork and her mother and how their relationship evolved through the years. With the beats and added chimes, gongs and strings in the background, their vocals will bring you to a place of deep love, sorrow and reflection.
In “Fagurt er I Fjoroum” and “Trolla-Gabba,” Bjork uses her own voice as a part of the mix of instrumentals and electronic arrangements, looping her voice in a way that it makes it sound like acapella music. In these tracks, Bjork quickly encapsulates her listeners in a unique listening experience, impossible to find from any artist other than herself.
One of the best parts of the album comes from the song “Victimhood.” This song perfectly mixes the eclectic instrumentals with heavier, almost eerie sounds, from the clarinets and bass. The lyrics speak to the place many women find themselves in throughout their lives, one where they are treated differently because of their sex. “Rejection left a void that is never satisfied/Sunk into victimhood/Felt the world owed me love,” she sings. Bjork’s voice connects on a level that will leave you exploring how the world has influenced your view of yourself.
Another thoughtful song that explores the relationship between a mother and her child, as well as the feelings that are created when a child leaves the “nest,” is “Her Mother’s House.” In this song, Bjork is joined on vocals by her daughter, Isadora; it is a haunting song that explores the bond between a mother and child and how that bond changes as the child grows. The lyrics sung by Bjork “The space in your voice/Shows the scale of your compassion/The tone of your voice/Reveals the space you give others/The more I love you/The stronger you become/The less you need me,” speaks to a mother watching as her child becomes more self-reliant. Bjork’s daughter, Isadora, can be heard singing “The more you love me/The stronger I become from the perspective of a child growing into adulthood and reflecting on what their mother has given them through the years.” The music is soft and melodic, with wood instruments providing an extra layer of depth to the song. This leads to an odd mixture that happens to just work with Bjork’s unique voice, skill and overall themes, making the sound of “Fossora” a completely fresh and original experience.
With her experience accumulated throughout her long career as a musician, Bjork has created one of the most creative, gorgeous and genius albums of 2022, an album that will influence the music scene once more.
Article written by Morgan Butler of Albert Einstein High School
Photo: Fossora Album Cover