Debut

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Violently Happy

Bjork has refined her sound and evolved as an artist, inspiring others since her first album, released in '93, but 'Debut' is a treasure that's just as priceless and definitely worth having in one's collection. She impressed and showed much potential here, suggesting more to offer in the future, and is one of few that manages to outshine the previous endeavor with the next. She blew many electronic fans away with her refreshingly innovative style and wacky video ideas, staking her claim as a for…

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Written by Clarissa "MoonGoddess"

Curious, adventurous dance-pop from a real artist.

While Bjork is a distinctly "love-or-hate" artist with a strange and occassionally pretentious public persona (swan dress, anyone?), it cannot be denied that the career of this Icelandic female is fascinating and eclectic (God, I hate that word)--dark, strange experimental punk in the form of Kukl, the upbeat and quirky pop/post-punk of The Sugarcubes, Gling-Glo's big-band/vocal jazz, and an expansive and innovative solo career. 1993's Debut is mostly composed of dancy electro-pop (a genre I'm n…

While Bjork is a distinctly "love-or-hate" artist with a strange and occassionally pretentious public persona (swan dress, anyone?), it cannot be denied that the career of this Icelandic female is fascinating and eclectic (God, I hate that word)--dark, strange experimental punk in the form of Kukl, the upbeat and quirky pop/post-punk of The Sugarcubes, Gling-Glo's big-band/vocal jazz, and an expansive and innovative solo career. 1993's Debut is mostly composed of dancy electro-pop (a genre I'm not terribly fond of) but with enough weirdness and left turns to keep those with non-MTV attention spans interested. It's definitely not as adventurous or "out-there" as Post, Homogenic, or ESPECIALLY Medulla (which is her most unusual album, and pretty damn bizarre by any standard), which makes it probably the best album to start with when it comes to exploring Bjork's catalog.

Debut successfully marries the accessible with the weird. Dancy tracks Crying, Big Time Sensuality, and the live club track There's More To Life Than This combine Bjork's quirky and engaging voice and strange wordless scat with plenty of catchy beats, and yet it doesn't sound like a mess. Slower, dreamier tracks like Venus As A Boy, Come To Me, and One Day show a sort of relaxed eroticism and easy groove. She also plays up her vocal jazz influence with Aeroplane and The Anchor Song, which both prominently feature saxophone (on the latter a pair of slightly dissonant saxes form the only backing). The production job by Nelee Hooper is slightly slick and a bit dated by 2004 standards, but it's decent enough.

The subject matter of the songs is as quirky as you'd expect from Bjork--a detached study of humans and the weird things they do, being happy to the point of breaking things, and anchoring oneself to the bottom of the sea. Amusing stuff, and made even more entertaining by Bjork's childlike demeanor and prominent accent.

Anyone with a passing interest in Bjork should start here, then go check out Gling-Glo, the solo albums Post and Homogenic, and maybe the Sugarcubes' debut Life's Too Good, in that order. Save the more isoteric material (Medulla, Holidays In Europe by Kukl) for later.

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Written by Shotgun Method

Track listing Edit

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Human Behaviour