Mindblowing third release from the Icelandic musical genius#
Homogenic is a Björk album that didn’t always make sense to me. I always liked Post since high school, and that one clicked almost instantly. When I got into Vespertine and Debut, they made perfect sense. Homogenic is weird. I don’t think Björk has ever really made the same album twice, and this one really exemplifies what sets her apart from her peers.
This album can frantic. Take the track 5 Years, which consists of Björk singing some pretty brutal lyrics (“You can’t handle love”) over a kind of repetitive and crunchy, almost industrial drum loop played along a super mellow and cool synth track, as it builds to a beautiful string composition, before going back to the drum and synth stuff, this time with the strings integrated. Despite the complex instrumentals, the highlight of this track and the album as a whole is absolutely Björk’s vocals. On this song, she sings with this sort of roughness in her voice that really compliments the percussion.
Homogenic can also be melancholy. Unravel is kind of the opposite of 5 Years . The instrumental is mostly comprised of saxophones, with a kind of sweeping electronic melody. This is arguably the greatest song on the album, and the lyrics definitely do not fall short here, as Björk describes a relationship unraveling like a ball of yarn, and is one of her best songs far and away. Again, despite the incredible instrumental, you can’t discount her vocals, which are the highlight of this song too.
Finally, Homogenic can be hopeful. All Is Full of Love, the closing track, reminds us that we need to keep going. Love will find us in the end, you just need to be receptive to it. Love can come from anywhere. Björk uses some really cool vocal layering techniques on this song, and the instrumental almost makes you feel like you’re sitting next to a lake, looking out and thinking, listening to the birds and the insects around you. There’s a lot of harp and string on this song, with less electronica and it almost feels like a foil to the more aggressive sounds found throughout the album. It’s a great way to finish the album off, and serves as a good transition if you were listening to her discography chronologically and were going straight into the more downtempo Vespertine.
I think Homogenic, along with most of Björk’s music is essential listening to anyone who’s interested in electronic music in any capacity. Every track on here is a gem, and you’re seriously missing out if you haven’t ever heard it.
Favorite Track: Unravel