Review: Björk - Volta

These are quite difficult times for Björk. Formerly the artist who seemed to do no wrong; her selection of collaborators and producers seemed inspired in her early years. The results were two great albums (’Debut’ and ‘Post’) but since then the results have been less consistent. ‘Volta’ is an attempt to redress the balance after the only sporadically good ‘Medulla’. Once again, she falls short unfortunately.

Thankfully Björk largely dispenses with the acapella on this record but it keeps the harsh abrasive beats meaning that this record is pretty hard work again. Timbaland successfully handles the unhinged nature of Björk with a bouncy but somewhat heartless ‘Earth Intruders’ whilst ‘Wanderlust’ features an impressive lung-bursting chorus backed by a fine brass section. Continuing the good moments, a duet with Antony Hegarty based on an ancient love poem is negotiated with the right amount of tenderness and ‘Pneumonia’ is a quietly grand number. Yet there are quite a few problems with this record. Firstly, save for the frequent use of foghorns (both in the literal and metaphorical sense), there isn’t much cohesion to this record. ‘Innocence’ -the other Timbaland track - is a mess, ‘Declare Independence’ is shouted vocals over some ugly discordant beats and ‘Vertebrae By Vertebrae’ is a fine backing track spoiled by Björk’s waywardness with a tune. The problem is that since 1992’s ‘Debut’ it’s generally been a case of diminishing returns and ‘Volta’ continues the downward trend.

Web Site:
Official Björk Site

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