Björk
Vespertine
[Elektra]
Rating: 7.2
So this is it. The great follow-up to Homogenic we've anticipated
since that overcast late-September afternoon in 1997 when we first sat
listening to the album for the first time, wondering what she might do next.
Somehow, it doesn't seem worth the wait.
Homogenic, still the most innovative and substantial release of Björk's
solo career, spilled over with rich melody and sybaritic imagery. Its dense,
programmed percussion reflected IDM's infancy (The Richard D. James Album
being a frequent point of comparison), yet submerged it in brooding Russian
strings buoyed by thumping bass hits and Björk's urgent frustrations. The
album's cavernous echoes and masterful arrangements sprang to larger-than-life
proportions like the American musicals Selma fantasized about in Dancer in
the Dark. Both cohesive and inconceivably modern, Homogenic
sounded like the future-music of childhood dreams.
While undeniably beautiful, Vespertine fails to give electronic music
the forward push it received on Björk's preceding albums. Rather than
designing sounds never before imagined, the album merely sounds current,
relying on the technology of standard studio software and the explorations
of the Powerbook elite. There are few surprises here for the Björk
fan, and fewer for the electro aficionado. Sure, it's nice to listen to, but
it rarely challenges like Post's "Enjoy" and "Headphones," or like
Homogenic's "Pluto." And what's a Björk album without the ambush?
That said, Vespertine has more than just a handful of charms. The
record is gorgeously orchestrated with the Icelander's neon string sections,
chiming music boxes, and intricately arranged background Björks. Its
production, though never truly groundbreaking, is always beautifully executed
with washes of harp, organic synthsounds and majestic, dreamlike effects.
Björk hasn't lost her ability to create forested sonic otherworlds, or to
achieve an overwhelmingly full sound while maintaining an air of wide, open
space. In fact, it could be argued that, texturally, she has mastered her
trademarks with this album.
"Hidden Place" opens Vespertine with a glitchy, almost lo-fi melodic
loop, paired with the deep sub-bass attack that has dominated the low-end
of Björk's music in recent years. "Aurora" begins with rhythmic broomsweeps
and awakens with delicate frosted chimes and angelic choirs. "Heirloom"
alters between what sounds like a samba preset on a vintage Wurlitzer organ
and skittering breakbeats, and is decorated with inverted synthtones and
analog keyboards. And these songs, like all the others, are saturated in
a thousand layers of whirling, grandiose strings and porcelain
pings of fragile concordance.
Yet, Vespertine is riddled with sameness, and the unshakable feeling
that you've heard these songs before. And coated in such a delicious sheen,
it's easy to miss that the music here lacks a major component of Björk's past
recordings; strip Vespertine down to melody alone, and you're left with
little substance. Only on occasion does Björk rise above the swelling
symphonies and swirling digitalia with a memorable piece of music, and when
she does, it seems fleeting. Perhaps it appears for a moment in the
repetitious chorus of "It's Not Up to You," or the album's shimmering closer,
the Oval-sampling "Unison." But blink and you'll miss it, as it's invariably
swallowed whole by the album's vast, ethereal instrumentation.
Glitch wizards Matmos were called in during the Vespertine sessions to
co-produce many of the record's tracks. I wonder where they are. Nowhere is
their signature sound even remotely traceable. A theory: starstruck by
Björk's iconic visage, they lent what they felt she would want, and left the
experimenting to their own releases. Clearly, Björk realized that this duo
was capable of inventing sounds beyond her wildest dreams, but the end result
is typical; not exactly a rehash, but nevertheless predictable.
Still, Vespertine makes for an intriguing listen, and manages to hold
its own after hours on repeat. Were it not for the fact that Björk had
already visited this terrain so reliably on previous outings, it could very
well be her landmark achievement. But with the astounding Homogenic
behind her, its melodies timelessly memorable and its production similarly
captivating, Vespertine stands only as a pleasant journey back through
her usual netherworld.
-Ryan Schreiber