A Björk For All Senses

Björk released a new video for Victimhood, taken from her current album Fossora which to my surprise was released at the end of September last year. Surprise in that I'd posted about previous single Ovule in January and commented that I really needed to catch up with the album. Eight months on and here we are.

 

The video has been created by Gabríela Friðriksdóttir (artwork) and Pierre-Alain Giraud (animation). A combination of animation and AI brings Gabríela's vividly painted characters to life, each creating a mythology and narrative progression. Includes raving tree trunks, as you might come to expect from a Björk video. It's a sensory treat.

Sonically speaking, Victimhood is a beautiful song. Lyrically, it typically straddles the personal - a reflection on self-sacrifice and self-pity - and the universal, using phrases and soundscapes that enable the listener to connect. I am reminded in a tenuous way of older songs like The Anchor Song and Bachelorette. 

I especially love the move from fog horns in the first half to clarinets in the second half, aurally describing the self-reflective journey from wallowing in pity to working through to determination to get through it.

Of course, Björk would explain all of this much better than I and, luckily for you and I, she does. Posted simultaneously with the video is "Introducing Victimhood", 32 minutes of Björk in conversation with long-time friend, relation and video (co)director Gabríela Friðriksdóttir. Personally, I could listen to half an hour of Björk reading from World Cement magazine and it would be a joy, but this is a wonderful, uplifting experience and well worth the time spent.

If like me, you've been inexcusably tardy in buying the album, Fossara has been (re)released in an updated 2023 edition, with four songs featuring additional vocals, effects or production.