Bjork, Vespertine

Bjork, Vespertine is a very inward album. It's not an album that you put into your car with your three friends and blast the volume up and roll down your windows, doing 60 down the street of a nice neighborhood. Vespertine is personal. It's quiet. It's the kind of album where you go into your bedroom, shut your door, sit down, plug in your headphones, and listen. Bj rk is basically saying, it's the kind of music you would play in your house, when you're alone. I agree 100%.

Bj rk breaks away from her previous style of albums, and is now very tame. Vespertine is a romantic album, where she expresses her deepest emotions, memories, and dreams. Her voice barely rises above a whisper.

The combination of music that Bj rk chose is beautiful. Matmos, electronic beat-master duo, who mix all the light, glitchy beats. Zeena Parkins, a phenomenal harpist, who, when playing, brings the sound of angels to Bj rk's music. An all-out symphony. Music boxes the size of coffins, built and supplied by Porter, a music box company. Last but not least, an all-female choir from Greenland, whose beautiful voices lift you up into the clouds. This has to be one of the most interesting combinations of music I've ever seen. Harps, strings, celestas, music boxes, and choirs. You'd think it would sound a bit odd, right? ..You'd be surprised.

Within these 12 beautiful tracks, you'll find that Bj rk starts off singing very quietly. She's very close, very near, very calm. But suddenly, the symphony will start playing, the heavenly choir kicks up, and the music crescendos to an almost unimaginable climax - and just when you think the music couldn't get any more fuller or louder, it DOES, sending electric chills coursing up and down your arms. Suddenly the music drains down to a quivering aftermath, leaving you frozen and thinking.

Here's a song-by-song description:

Track 1. "Hidden Place" - A good track to open the album with. Its grooving bass line promotes a mysterious, majestic, cool atmosphere. The choir takes a large roll in this track - whether simply providing background humming, or singing at the top of their lungs. Matmos uses the interesting idea of shuffling cards, which provides some of the beats. Hidden place is a song about the need for security in a relationship.

Track 2. "Cocoon" - A song where Bj rk expresses her new found love. Bass line, small glitchy beats, and a celeste is all that's needed to express such a sexually emotional tale. This track has sexually explicit content, covered by poetic analogies. (i.e., "When I wake up a second time in his arms, gorgeousness, he's still inside me. ... A train of pearls, cabin-by-cabin, is shot precisely across an ocean.")

Track 3. "It's Not Up To You" - Matmos' trendy style of beats are very evident in this song. With bass pizzicatos, celestes, choir, symphony, harp, and a harpsichord, it creates a unique atmosphere. This is one of the more upbeat, fun tracks, where it's easy to find yourself bobbing your head to. The meaning of this song is basically left to the listener's interpretation. It can be about fate, hope (in a relationship), or perfection.

Track 4. "Undo" is one of the more darker tracks. It creates a melancholic mood. The meaning of the song is basically about the struggle of a lover, trying too hard to love. Bj rk is on the opposite end, almost sympathizing. Starting off very close and personal, it opens up into a dramatic, tragic climax, where the choir tops off the full emotion of song. Their voices sound as if its echoing through dim caverns. Bj rk's ending line for this song: "If you're bleeding, undo. If you're swearing, undo. If you're crying, undo. Oh I unravel..."

Track 5. "Pagan Poetry" - This track is accompanied with a music box. The song is about falling in love again. The atmosphere of this song is highly romantic - almost to the point of obsession. It's almost a ritualistic song, with its tribal bass drum, the romantic lyrics, the sound of Asian-like melodic harp and music box arrangements, and a multi-Bj rk choir.

Track 6. "Frosti" - The only instrumental track on the album. The entire song is made of nothing but bells (with the exception of a bass line). The arrangements of bells are very enchanting. Its complex, intricate sound reminds us of a frosted snowflake falling, or the icicles hanging off of the roof of a home. It slowly fades into Track 6.

Track 7. "Aurora" - This song is about a memory Bj rk has (from childhood?). The harp is very evident and beautiful in this track. The sound of snow-crunching is used as the beat, along with many light taps and pops. You feel the chill of winter just listening to it.

Track 8. "An Echo, A Stain" - Perhaps one of the most confusing lyrics. No one has been able to fully decipher the meaning of this intricate riddle. What sounds like the sound of a door creaking open is used throughout the song, creating a very haunting feel. The choir's voice is perhaps the most chilling of all. This is also one of those tracks where the strings and choir rise to an unbelievable crescendo, that one didn't even think was possible.

Track 9. "Sun In My Mouth" - A take off of poet E.E. Cumming's work, "I Will Wade Out". Bj rk puts his poem to music. This is one of those very inward tracks. The out-of-tune harp, the celeste, and the beautiful strings make the track seem like Bj rk is singing within a dream. This has one of the most intricate(-sounding) string arrangements on the whole album.

Track 10. "Heirloom" - I always felt that this track was highly misplaced. It's a total break away from the theme of Vespertine. There are signs of low cellos and basses and what seems to be a bassoon, but over all, this song is constructed of electronic synths. The meaning behind this one is basically how her family supports her in some way or another. At least, that's how I interpret this. It's catchy, dark, and very much like her old style of music seen in previous albums. Perhaps this song was a break

Track 11. "Harm of Will" - One of the most beautifully arranged songs on the track. The lyrics are highly confusing, and not easy to decipher. The lyrics for this were originally written by Harmony Korine. The song does have sexually explicit lyrics in one part, but the beauty of the music somehow makes up for it. The string arrangements are phenomenal, the celeste is golden, and the choir is amazing. Everything in this song, from a musical aspect, is superb.

Track 12. "Unison" - The ending track. With samples taken from Oval's "Aero Deck", and another choir recorded/borrowed for this song, it almost accompanies the title perfectly. The song is self-explanatory, as you will see in the lyrics. "We shouldn't fight, let's unite; embrace you tight, let's unite." It basically starts off with a rebellious feel, sort of an "I fly solo" type attitude. But Bj rk realizes that she can't live the way she is anymore without her lover. This is the most musically interesting track, in my opinion. The combination of synths, a catchy harp melody, tricky beats, latent strings, and a majestic male and female choir - all creating the warm atmosphere of Unison. The ending measures of this song tie up the Vespertine album, with female voices humming repeatedly, the harp trickling notes back and forth, and the sound of card-like noises or skids ruffling back and forth.

Suddenly, the music stops - and Vespertine is complete.