Bjork’s new experimental album recalls Yoko’s avant-garde recordings from the seventies. Both women come from outside the traditional Anglo-American rock axis and make music that sounds distinctively alien to the ears of the typical pop listener. The big difference between them is that while Yoko’s musical experiments were only sporadically successful and never found a real audience, Bjork’s work has been consistently marvelous and made her an iconic pop phenomenon.
Many fans probably hoped that Medulla would turn out to be a sequel to Bjork’s last album, the lushly beautiful Vespertine. But Medulla is a different animal entirely. Listeners would be better off if they approached Medulla as a sort of “sonic art project” rather than expecting a new collection of pretty pop songs. Viewed from this adjusted perspective, Medulla is a daring, rich, and rewarding work. The album has been recorded almost entirely without musical instruments – the pieces consist primarily of a variety of human voices (tribal singers, human beatboxes etc) which have been carefully sampled, looped, and layered in the studio.
The result is a blend of a capella singing and modern technology into a new hybrid music form. Bjork’s own distinctive singing style is complemented with guest voices and choirs, elaborately programmed to bounce back left and right across your headphones. This is not a throwback to 50’s doo-wop: the high-production sheen, use of digital sound effects, and Bjork’s unique songcraft together create a sound that definitely belongs to the new millennium.
Stripping away all the plushy orchestration of her earlier works has also exposed the true structure of Bjork’s songs. Her fine minimalist writing skills now stand out clearly; her lyrics, often odd, are also very affecting. Bjork has mentioned that her recent pregnancy was a major influence, and many of the lyrics draw on visceral images of flesh and bone.
This is a challenging album, to be sure, but not a difficult one, and this is why Bjork has been more successful in her experiment than Yoko ever was. Medulla will not have the mass popular appeal of Vespertine, and is not recommended for first-time listeners, but it is a wonderful, sure sign of Bjork’s maturation as an artist.
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