Björk "Debut" (1993)
Björk is another musical 'lifer'. She studied piano, released her
first (self-titled) album at the age of 11, played in fusion bands, punk
bands and achieved a degree of fame fronting the band Sugarcubes. Even
around those bands though she was recording with various other musicians in a
variety of styles.
Björk moved to London to really get her solo career going. She teamed
up with producer Nellee Hooper (Massive Attack, Soul II Soul) and,
grooving on the club culture, produced this album of largely
dance/triphop-based tracks. You couldn't really pigeonhole it to that
one area though, with jazzy horn sections, sweet pop and weird 'Björky'
idiosyncrasies.
All across the album, Björk's voice is on full display. Ranging from
whispered child-like melody to full-throated ecstatic yell-singing.
Bjork is a true original, to the extent that I've found myself referring
to some artists as "like a French Björk" (Camille) or "like a less 'out
there' Björk" (Emiliana Torrini). She is pretty much her own genre.
The album was well received, and as a cherry on top, it was the
beginning of Björk's visual creative partnership with Michel Gondry,
whose quirky music videos were the perfect match for Björk's music.
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