If you know me, you know that I have a particular fondness for female pop vocalists, be it the beautiful vocal of Lady Gaga or Beyonce, or, God forbid, the brilliant but horrible whiny auto tuned drivel people like Ke$ha or Fergie release. And for me, Bjork is no exception. Starting her music career with the wonderful punk-y Sugarcubes who had some minor hits in the early nineties, Bjork branched off and has enjoyed success ever since, be it as an actress in the heartbreaking Dancer In The Dark, a wonderful vocalist in all her nineties albums, or in Matthew Barney's utterly up-itself Drawing Restraint 9. Yes, Bjork is brilliant at a lot of things, and her talents are on full form in her 2007 effort, Volta. From the opening, defiant, and almost abrasive song, Earth Intruders, we can understand that this is no longer the beautiful soprano, this is the furious, completely pissed-off Bjork, ready to batter anyone in her way, not entirely different from M.I.A.'s later effort The Message. Not to say there aren't moments of beauty. The whimsical tone of Wanderlust is only to be matched by the stunning, American Pie-esque The dull Flame of Desire. Clocking in at nearly 8 minutes, with moments of unscrupulous beauty. Similar is the not-so-long but equally lovely Pneumonia (there's two word I never thought I'd see in the same sentance), not to beaten by the best song on the album, Declare Independence. Written as a ballad for Greenland and the Faroe Islands, this hip house fist pumper is similar in style and quality to the brilliant Born Free. As a simple club banger, it's as good as it gets. This is a satisfying album and while not all songs work (Hope can be rather tedious) it is still always good from our favourite Icelandic vocalist (sorry Sigur Ros) Bjork.
8/10
MT
Are you a Bjork fan or do you prefer female singers like M.I.A.? And do you think that Sigur Ros are better than Bjork? Who is the best Icelandic music makers?
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