Fossora - Bjork
a name that really needs no introduction. The Icelandic art pop innovator has been creatively bending genres around her incredibly unique voice and style of songwriting for decades. Fossora is Bjork's 10th album and comes 5 years after her previous project. It also sees her shifting almost entirely to self-producing the record after working with Arca in large part for her last two albums.
Review by Lav:
I love Bjork, big whoop, who doesn't. She's one of the best artists of all time and that's no hyperbole at all. She legitimately has three decades of musical innovation under her belt at this point with no signs of her timeless innovation slowing down. Obviously her return after a five year absence that felt more like 10 years is welcome, but even I wasn't ready for this. Her 10th album Fossora isn't quite as new a stylistic shift as we're used to from Bjork, but it rides beautiful arrangements, excellent lyricism, and thorough conceptuality to become one of the best albums of 2022.
Normally these reviews have a formula to them, but we're cutting right to the chase because there are some songs I just can't wait to talk about. One of the things Bjork spends time on this album thematically processing is the loss of her mother a few years ago. The most direct confrontation of it is on the record's third single Ancestress, which I completely adore. It's a massive ode to Bjork's mother that I could dissect piece by piece but it's so beautiful and grand that you should just do yourself a favor and listen to it yourself. The song is preceded on the album by Sorrowful Soil which is yet another amazing example of Bjork as a songwriter musing on the perspective a child can feel when their parent is clearly nearing the end of their life. The opening line of the first verse goes "In a woman's lifetime she gets 400 eggs, but only two or three nests". The track itself is also gorgeous with a sparse mix and an impressively extensive array of backing vocals.
This is a good time to talk about the reason that I have been and will continue to be calling this record Bjork enchanted mushroom forest album. One of the core themes of the record that gets hit on repeatedly and one that she foreshadowed in interviews is the idea of roots growing into the dirt. It's a lyrical motif that comes up often both literally and in more abstract senses. Sonically the record feels a lot like wandering through the very forest that Bjork is sinking her roots into with interludes that help paint the vivid scenery.
Some of the best examples of this come later on the tracklist like Fungal City. The track is a collaboration with serpentwithfeet that is kind of about sex and also kind of about being in a big fungus in the forest, which is so fucking cool. The instrumentation is so tongue and cheek and it sets off a run on the back end of the record that's much more playful than its early run. The combination of serpentwithfeet's sweet vocals and Bjork's sharp harmonies is just perfect. I also love the title track Fossora which has some of the most robust instrumentation and genuinely catchy refrains on the album. The combination of drums and horns that they use for transitions brings my soul directly to heaven. Even when I think I have the record pinned down it delivers a moment like this.
On the other side of things is the lead single and opening track to the record a literal gabber song called Atopos. With a few weeks to digest the song I can say that I really enjoy it, the combination of squelching horns and pummeling drums is both intense and intoxicating. The second single Ovule is one I wasn't crazy about at first but the more I listened to it the more I started to like it. The rumbling bass and sharp percussion hits in the background compared with the softer vocal harmonies make for a good combo. What really won me over is the final verse where Bjork very poetically muses on her perspective on love in her youth and decides to move on from old habits, returning to the symbolism of the glass egg.
While we're talking good songwriting, Victimhood is a really interesting moment on the record with a title that could mean anything and a sparse rattling beat that seems to set up for a directional song. As it turns out the track is more about victim complexes than actual victimhood with Bjork challenging herself to transcend the practice entirely. It's a pretty impactful choice for the track and the particular line "I felt the world owed me love" really stuck with me. Freefall is also just a genuine love song. It's one expression after another of attraction that gets more and more grand with each metaphor until it feels like love is the best thing that has ever happened to Bjork. instrumentally the song is a bit dry at first but introduces some playful planky keys in the second half that are a perfect pairing for the lyrics and melody.
One of the only other songs here I have any minor complaints about is the closing track Her Mother's House which I wouldn't call a highlight. Within the context of the record though, it serves as an excellent closer tying up the themes of Bjork's mother passing and her roots digging into the earth. It's a fitting conclusion even if it's one of the less interesting moments. Finally, there's the truest duet on the album Allow which sees Bjork collabing with Emilie Nichols and needless to say their styles mix fluidly. The layers of breathy vocals as the two weave their voices in and out of each other on the hook is absolutely mystifying. While the strings in the instrumental do have some gorgeous moments they also slightly overtake the song at points, which I think is mostly due to just how much the vocals take precedent on most of the other songs here.
This record is wonderful. Bjork once again shows off her explorative musical palette across the entire record but just like the excellent Vulnicura before it, I'm even more interested in what Bjork has to say than what it sounds like. In a discography as old and good as hers it should be no surprise that she finds new ways to impress, but this meditation on her feelings as an aging woman disguised as a jaunt through the coolest forest you can imagine is an absolute joy. If for some reason you were on the fence with it, let me make my position clear, everyone should listen to this record. 9/10
