Top 5: 1. Victimhood 2. Fossora 3. Her Mother's House 4. Trolla-Gabba 5. Atopos I like everything here, though. Fungal City's inching closer to my Top 5. The entire second half of the album is pretty close to bulletproof for me.
Ooh someone's a dark Debbie! I can never rank songs very well, but these are probably my top five in no particular order: "Trölla-Gabba" really SLAPS doesn't it? I love the combination of menace and dance. "Freefall" is a dark horse that I think will become a fan favorite with some time. Truly there isn't a song on the album I'd remove. Even "Allow," which is very obviously a Utopia leftover and sticks out sonically, is a such a breath of fresh air after the (fantastic) dark muddiness of "Victimhood." The album really flows.
Ugh, yeah, I love Victimhood. The way she can make horns sound utterly depraved and evil is fascinating to me, and how she just proudly sits in that to the listener's discomfort. Then again, I've always loved her darker tracks, like Hollow, Dark Matter, etc. Trolla-Gabba is scary and fun. And yes, Freefall's definitely inching up my list, too. Allow's a nice breath of fresh air after Victimhood, and I love Emilie Nicolas' vocals on it!
In spite of its seven minutes, Ancestress feels like it’s over in the blink of an eye. It’s so mesmerizing I can’t get enough of it. Same with Fossora, though I still wish the last minute was less rough. It keeps it from being an 11/10.
Allow could never fit on Utopia because of how subdued and low its sound is. Reworking it so it fits Fossora perfectly despite the usage of flutes is a stroke of genius. It sounds like a necessary breath of fresh air without breaking the album's flow. Also y'all should show more love to Sorrowful Soil. It's the moment we properly start digging.
It functions so well as a complete body of work so it feels wrong to pick it apart, but these are emerging as my highlights: Freefall Victimhood Atopos Sorrowful Soil Ancestress (+ Her Mother's House as an integral counterpart) Also, the color palette for this album (like all of hers) feels so right and my favorite sounds are the ones that really lean into that damp, mossy, moldy green. I also appreciate how click-clacky and metallic a lot of the beats are, like hammer on (wet) rock.
01 - Ovule (The vinyl version, jesus... I can't stop playing at this very moment) 02 - Atopos 03 - Fossora 04 - Her Mother's House 05 - Victimhood I really wish Fagurt Er í Fjörðum was a full song, tho. I like it very much.
Her Mother's House Ancestress Fungal City Atopos Fossora HM: Victimhood Atopos, Fossora and Victimhood switch positions depending on my mood. I love them all very much. The way she had Sindri and Ísadóra feature on my two favorite songs though! Móðir knows best.
The vinyl version of Ancestress with her vocals cutting clear through the track... It's giving a strong whiff of Vespertine by way of Vulnicura's strings and Utopia's unconventional beat structures.
Atopos Ancestress Allow Freefall Fossora Her Mother's House ..are all favourites. To be this 'into' a Bjork album so early on feels refreshing as it hasn't happened for me since Vespertine. Even Volta, which I really enjoy, didn't click this quickly.
Curious you see it this way because Björk thinks the opposite! She said she couldn't find space for "Allow" on Utopia because its rhythms and "rough around the edges" vibe deviated from the "sophistication and digital accuracy" she was aiming for. She explained "Allow" is made of scores upon scores of flutes edited together into complex rhythmical patterns inspired by Afrobeats. She completed the song while working on Fossora and realized its percussive quality fit with the rest of the material. How different or finalized the version she did with Arca was remains a mystery. Speaking of Arca, B said she was supposed to be part of the Fossora team as well but all plans fell short because the pandemic made it impossible for them to spend time together in either Iceland or Barcelona. And she adds, "but maybe it was a good thing we couldn't make it happen because it was time for us to go in different directions. We both felt it was healthier this way". So... they get it.
The way I still struggle with Utopia and am glad Bjarca is on pause but suddenly can’t stop playing Losss. That’s the one for me. Sounds like someone’s copies of Homogenic and Vespertine being set alight and the owner singing from the centre of the flames. Stan it! Anyway…as bold and out of the box as Fossora is, it goes down so easy. Had it on while studying earlier and it weirdly focused me.
Bought the vinyl today because I didn't want to miss my chance at getting that alternate version in my collection. Haven't had a listen on my shitty little turntable yet but I also noticed "Sorrowful Soil" is misspelled on the back cover (it's correct on the CD). None of these oddities are quite as good as the Malaysian Voltaic with four extra songs (so glad I snapped that up when I had the chance long ago), but owning an early version is still cool even though I know I'll prefer the final mix.
They look more like the description on their website "Trasparent Lime Vinyl", the mockup just looks opaque - I can't see the problem
