Vespertine

From AwardAnnals

Reviews

Amazon.com

Björk originally intended to call Vespertine Domestika. The title would have been entirely appropriate (as, indeed, is Vespertine, meaning “pertaining to the evening”). Ever since 1993’s vital, effusive Debut, Björk’s music has been increasingly intimate, gently private and concerned with seclusion. It’s typical then that Vespertine’s first single was called “Hidden Place”. The studious solitude is rewarding, though. Vespertine is a lush, gorgeous swell of mid-pace electronica, symphonic strings and Björk’s uniquely alien, spectral vocal. There are fantastical wonders here. “Cocoon” (another eulogy to withdrawal from the world) is delicate as a breath, Björk sounding too fragile to be flesh as she lauds “a beauty this immense”. “Pagan Poetry” and “Aurora”, likewise, are adrift in an enchanted reverie. When she chooses, she crafts killer tunes: “It’s Not up to You” is as lovely as anything on Post. Yet frequently, on such tracks as the yearning, glancing “Undo”, Björk seems to be simply thinking aloud, revelling in this wildly rich and visceral music. She’s reclaimed cutting-edge electronica, so often the province of geeks and technicians, for the poets and the passionate. Vespertine is a landmark, a revelation, a truly fabulous achievement. —Ian Gittins