Homogenic was
Björk's fourth album, and her third as a solo artist since splitting with the
Sugarcubes.
Released in 1997, the album is a strange taste of the artist's unqiue style and a glimpse into a Björkian world of shape, texture, sound, colour, etc. Debut was a glimpse in Björk as an Icelander, and Post a journey through Björk's emotions, but with Homogenic Björk's unique style comes to bear.
The style of the music is refreshing. Natural wind and string instruments combine with deep beats (as previously seen on Post), to create a deep "organic" and textured sound. The coverwork, designed by Paul White at Me Co, is particularly indicative of this "organic" nature. On the front you see a "Geisha Björk", looking otherworldly, futuristic, and almost like an android. The inside reveals a scene of plant stamens, etc., pregnant with colour.
As with Björk's other works, the album progresses. The tracks "Hunter", "Jóga", "Bachelorette", and "5 Years", particularly epitomise this "full sound" that Björk developed together with Howie B, Mark Bell and "Spike" Stent. By the time of the culmination of the single releases with "All Is Full of Love" we see a different sound emerging. The original release of "All Is Full of Love" as very angelic, and gentle. The videos, on the other hand, diverged. This divergence started in "Alarm Call", one could say, whose video was nothing like the others. The track "Pluto", with its lightning sequences and violent punk agression, seems like an end to the CD, with "All Is Full of Love" a bolt-on addition. For video, "All Is Full of Love" turns into a dark melancholy and cathartic love scene between two robots, breaking asunder the old in order to forge the new.
The track listing is as follows:
- Hunter
- Jóga
- Unravel
- Bachelorette
- All Neon Like
- 5 Years
- Immature
- Alarm Call
- Pluto
- All Is Full of Love
Björk's next studio album, Vespertine was released in 2001, with Selmasongs, the soundtrack to Dancer in the Dark, interspersed.