Björk

Biophilia {Press}

"A possible paradigm for the 21st-century album ... The new songs juxtapose hovering textures of choir and organ with sparse pointillism and sudden eruptions of break-beat drumming, all set against Björk’s idiosyncratic melodies."

"An amazing, inventive and wholly unique album from an artist without peer."

"Biophilia's songs are astounding ... These songs have room to breathe, employing space and silence as much as melody and harmony ... Vocal melodies unfurl more like transcendent devotionals than typical verses ... Björk is such an odd, elusive iconoclast that you truly never know what she'll try next. As always, that's part of the joy here."

"Björk simply has no rivals for sustained pop innovation over the long haul. She remains an icon: tiny but titanic, thanks to the size of her voice and the scope of her imagination.”

“Intimate, playful, and beautiful—one of the boldest artistic statements of our time”

“Biophilia is one of 2011′s best releases, even without the Apps, invented instruments, live shows, educational workshops, etc. The songwriting itself is sharp, the feel immediate and enveloping.”

"Unlike other aggressive risk-takers, her music has never lost its core—a very specific and intense intimacy runs through it all"

“A cutting-edge multimedia initiative that reimagines ‘the album’ for the 21st century ... [I]n purely musical terms it’s arguably her most subtle, magical, and downright gorgeous creation since 2001’s Vespertine—it’s ten songs glimmer with glacial mystery and imagination.”

“Richard Dawkins claims that science has enhanced rather than diminished our sense of awe. Björk puts the case in the most ecstatic way. Biophilia is a wonderful record in the most literal sense: it overflows with wonder.”

“A triumph ... Biophilia reactivates a sensation I thought I’d lost: Björkophilia.”

"Biophilia is a thrilling record, an artist not just at the peak of her vocal power and knowledge, but rapturously and soulfully engaged with life and the still beautiful possibilities music offers in a benighted age ... Even in Björk’s catalogue there’s nothing that’s been as spectacularly unconventional and wholly successful as Biophilia ... Every so often an album comes along that not only justifies its hype but outweighs it."

"[I]t's surprisingly accessible, hypnotic and beautiful if you give it time and concentration ... [Y]ou might begin to feel a marvellous connection to all kinds of universal forces."

"Ground-breaking ... [W]hat emerges here is hope, in new ways of doing things that don't abandon the old, untamable, pre-digital world ... [T]his intricate album's simple raison d'être: a sense of wonder."