September 27th will see the release of Bjork's highly acclaimed new album Biophilia' which looks to be her most ambitious work to date. Not one to work within the normal boundaries of being a musician, Bjork has taken on the worlds of nature, science and technology and has merged them altogether to create something no one else has done before.
As well as being released in the more conventional formats of CD and Vinyl, Bjork has also embraced modern technology and challenged its capabilities even further by creating apps for iPhone and iPad for the entire album. Here is David Attenborough, who can explain the idea a lot better than
This is what is known as the Mother App, which can be downloaded for free from itunes. It resembles the night sky, each constellation representing a different song. Eventually you will be able to purchase individual apps for each song.
Bjork decided that she would abandon the traditonal music video entirely in favour of these apps which represent creative visualisations of the actual score. In one mode you will be able to simply watch the sound and the music together, in other modes you will be able to intervene with the pitch and the tempo of the song, picking apart it's DNA and learning more about it's makeup.
This dedication to apps came after Bjork fell in love with her iPad which has finally enabled her to compose songs outdoors, alone her preferred method of writing.
She has enlisted the help of visionary friends such as Michel Gondry and Drew Berry to help create the visuals for each track. Here is Michel Gondry's lo-fi take on the song Crystalline' which eventually turn into an interactive app
Drew Berry, the world's leading bio-medical animator has been enrolled to create visuals for the Biophillia live show. His brief from Bjork was to go Jimi Hendrix on biological science'. He has two science degrees and advanced telescopes and spends days analysing scientific papers to visually recreate the microscopic processes which happen in our bodies. Here are some screen shots based on parasites replicating, proteins dividing and microbes fighting infections.
Biophilia's intention is to define humanities relationship with sound and the universe and smash the music industries convention. Each song has a different scientific theme. Even if you don't want to delve too much into the science and technology, Biophilia is at face value, a beautiful record which will reinstate Bjork as one of this generations most significant artists.
Jessica Hazel
Writer, blogger and vintage trader.
http://creativepool.co.uk/jessicahazel
