[Review] Eerie wailing with great lyrics

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By Candace Kwan
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By Candace Kwan |
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The name Bjork just screams "swan dress". Despite her infamous red-carpet attire, her music is quite different from her provocative on-stage persona.

The track Crystalline is a perfect representation of Bjork's new album Biophilia - it starts out peaceful, slowly builds up and blows your mind with its use of electronic beats and gameleste (a unique hybrid instrument commissioned by Bjork) solo.

While her vocals are beautifully eerie, it can take a little time to get used to. Even though there is a certain allure to her slightly distorted enunciation of words, as it gives listeners a new perspective on language, it can be plain irritating. I'd like to know what Bjork is singing without looking up the lyrics and wincing, thank you very much.

Regardless of her incomprehensible wailing, her lyrics can really draw you in - visually, not aurally. Cosmogony can be considered to be vaguely allegorical, with allusions to God, as it begins with lines like "Heaven. Heaven's bodies" and "He made what became the world we know" - perhaps hinting at the creation of the world.

The lyrics are the best part of the album as you are free to interpret them however you like.

Biophilia is not an album for the average listener - the music is soothing and her lyrics are haunting at best, perhaps more suited for a Tim Burton film if the vocals were cut out.


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