Homogenic

by

Björk

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Bjork was angry, that was for sure. After a dismal break-up with Tricky and other unpleasant occurances in her life, Bjork's follow-up of the eclectic, trip-hop-like, post-techno "Post" was to be a minimal, dark album that few were perpared to drink down with a single listening. It's an album that's hard on the ears, on the soul, and will probably collect dust in your closet for about a year or so before you begin to realize its majesty in modern music.

For starters, "Homogenic" is the complete opposite of the Euro-friendly, house-filled "Debut," which found Bjork bringing fire on the dancefloor at four in the morning. Instead, we find her as the hunter, looking for the next kill, or as the screaming numbed soul excusing herself for being about to explode. Complete with wavy beats and minimalist industrial crunch fading in and out throughout the whole album, this is a difficult heart-renching listen that's filled with everything that is Bjork: beauty, love, despair, loneliness, and finally defeat with hope.

The minimalist beginning of "Hunter" sets the mode to the album, which is a stark, echoing jurney through emotion and time, while "Joga," being one of the album's stand-outs, is as vivid as the cold Icelandic landscape where she comes from.

Despite the hopeful yet ultimately longing "Bachelorette," the mood the album still doesn't change, with the tempo of the electronics and Bjork's singing still in sour modes. It changes briefly in the awakening "Alarm Call," which shows the mood change briefly into a barrage of Zen ("I'm no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment").

It doesn't last for long, on the other hand, with the full frontal assault of "Pluto," a numbing song where Bjork finally releases every bit of anger she's been holding onto throughout the album and releases it onto the listener. Yet the album ends peacefully on "All is Full of Love," where still, despite all that's happened, there is still hope for love somewhere out there, even if it's not in her heart for the moment.

By all means, "Homogenic" is a difficult album to get into. It's assured that the first few listenings to it will leave you saying to yourself, "Why did I even get this?" But with time, let it grow on you. Bjork's like a tasty French wine: She gets better with age.