Album Review: Björk - Vulnicura Strings
By Jonathan Fuchs, Contributor
[One Little Indian; 2015]
Rating: 2.5/5
Key Tracks: “Notget,” “Mouth Mantra”
When Icelandic singer Björk released her album Vulnicura in January of 2015, fans and critics rejoiced, calling it her best album in over 10 years and one of the new classic breakup albums. The strings were beautiful and refreshing, and the production done by Arca and The Haxan Cloak sounded dark and haunting.
Vulnicura Strings contains eight of the nine songs featured in her earlier album, but the electronic sounds and percussion are cut out, the strings isolated and additional strings added. Though it still sounds very nice, the album seems pointless and dull without the powerful production.
Tracks that express emotion through heavy electronic sounds (“Black Lake,” “Lionsong,” “Family”) suddenly become boring and incomplete without all of their elements perfectly put together. The strings still bring emotion, but there’s less power without the intense production.
However, “Mouth Mantra” and “Stonemilker” do well without their heavy electronic production, and continue to express their original meaning and sadness. The best track on Vulnicura Strings by far is “Notget,” which has the violins play the role of the synths on the original song, providing really cool ideas on what the orchestral instruments can do.
Despite being a good concept, Vulnicura Strings feels like an unnecessary addition to one of the best albums of 2015. The beauty of the album is still here, but without the electronic elements, a lot of the power and emotion are nowhere to be seen. This would’ve made an interesting iTunes mini-album; CD and vinyl releases as well seem excessive.
