Björk, Utopia, a Review (2017)

Björk, Utopia, a Review (2017)

By: Erreh Svaia

Rock N Roll Anima

With song titles like Future Forever, Paradisa or Utopia, this last one the one that gives name to the album, you can almost guess what this collections of songs is about, Utopia songs are a way to counter balance in an artistic way, of course, the troubled state of the world nowadays as perceived by Björk, it´s her way of creating a balsam to cure the wounds of everyday life, although on the surface it might look like a happy album, it isn’t, is full of hope at times, yes, but it is also centered right the middle of a dark menace, this is Björk´s version of an album full of hope, but in Björk´s world obviously, hope is not like your hope or my type of hope, another important factor in this almost ethereal equation, is the omnipresent touch of Venezuelan producer Alejandro Ghersi AKA as Arca, a wonderful musician who has created his own twisted world thanks to his unique musical vision, and Utopia in a away is Björk surrendering to Arca´s vision, it´s a risky album even for Björk´s standards, beautiful, mostly peaceful but full of depth and detail, it´s clear Arca´s infatuation with Björk the arrangements acts just like a perfect homage to the singer´s voice, that´s Utopia main “instrument”, everything else comes second, everything else, although important, remains in the background as we get the chance to meet Björk´s voice at its most forceful and its most fragile.

Field recordings are also relevant to Utopia´s vision, or overall sound, and that is clearly felt on Saint, featuring a very interesting combination of singing birds, dissonant sounds and ultra-deep (or is it underwater?) percussion that would make old dub Jamaican master Lee Perry proud, it would be hard to call this more upbeat than Future Paradise, but it definitely flows in a more organic way, it has incredibly beautiful arrangements, at times they remind me of the best of Mercury Rev ( a once favorite band of mine whose Deserter´s Song is a great companion to grey days), both hopeful and nostalgic, next track, the instrumental Paradisa is almost waltzy like, featuring more field recordings, as you can imagine Björk dancing in an immense field full of flowers and backed by mountains, “sounds of Music”, yes, kind of it, but somehow Arca´s presence is deeply felt here, dark, abstract and obsessive sounds make their presence as Björk´s multi tracked vocals create amazing vocal structures, surreal and almost out of this world, but things quickly return to serenity on Tabula Rasa, where the Iceland´s singer voice is against maximized as a powerful, dramatic and omnipresent instrument.

At times Utopia might sound “too normal” for some, or for Björk, but Avant-Garde tendencies are taken to the extreme on Sue Me, with its surreal beats and Björk´s harsh performance at its best, pugilistic in a “Scott Walker” way, Sue Me is an interesting and confusing piece, it makes me thing of someone like Scott Walker wanting to work with Arca and Sunn O))), what about a Björk and Scott Walker duet? Too much for this dimension to handle I guess, just as chaos continues on the abrasive arrangements of Loss, a hard edged piece of artillery disguised as a song, with voices brutally overwhelmed here by Arca´s ruthless musical input, taking perhaps a tip or two from Australia´s sound master and regular Iceland visitor Ben Frost.

Even for Björk´s hardcore fans, Utopia is a tough act to follow, this is not a record about the human voice like 2004´s Medúlla, it is a record about “Björk´s voice” exclusively, but the flow of outstanding tracks like Featured Creatures, Body Memory (also great song titles), the breathtaking The Gate or the crystalline Kate Bush like Blissing Me are surely to please even the most demanding Björk fan, leaving them ready for the enigmatic mutant deconstructed disco shine of Arisen My Senses, Utopia is an enigmatic and personal record, on the surface is a peaceful record, but once you are submerged it slowly reveals its dark side, like most utopias.