Title:Selmasongs By: Björk Released by: Elektra Released on: 2000 Rating (out of 10): 7 Date: 07/06/2001
Björk's Grandiosity Hits The Big Screen
When I think of an artist enveloped by her craft, Björk is always the first who comes to mind. An artist in the true sense of the word, Björk is one of the most innovative, talented, and eclectic musicians of our time.
Perhaps that's why she feels like a prostitute.
Her latest release, Selmasongs is the soundtrack to the new Lars von Trier film Dancer In The Dark, with Björk in the starring role. When Björk was building up to the genius of Homogenic by plodding through her "journals" of past years in the form of two outstanding albums, we caught a magnificent glimpse of things to come in 1995's Post, which showcased Björk's ability to transcend genre. The single "It's Oh So Quiet" (and the equally brilliant music video directed by Spike Jonze) screamed Broadway amongst the digital blankets that covered the rest of the album.
We shouldn't be to surprised to see Björk on screen. It was, however, anything but a natural course. All through shooting the avant-garde musical, tension was high between Björk and von Trier—so much that they weren't speaking after the shooting, and Björk doesn't see herself ever acting again. The film has since won the Palm d'Or, and Björk received the best actress award at Cannes. Björk now admits that the problems were not so much between her and von Trier, but rather between the music she created for the film and the character she was trying to express through those songs on screen.
Björk plays a woman who is going blind; the obvious differences between the fictional character she brought to life and the autobiographical style of Björk's music must have been difficult to work with.
So we are left with Selmasongs, a seven-song collection entirely written, performed, and produced by Björk. Remarkably, the album is both intensely autobiographical and easily projected onto the film's character. The soundtrack starts with "Overture," a self-explanatory orchestra arrangement as grandiose as you would expect from Björk.
This album follows the auteur theory, as Björk takes a tangent on Homogenic and continues to grow. "Cvalda" recalls the same digital funked-up effects that turned heads in Homogenic and then explodes from the cacaphonous mechanical arrangement to a suitable Broadway sing-along.
"Scatterheart" employs transistor cracking with kiddie keyboard and develops into mechanical drum beats and knob-tweaking Eventually it slows down to strings and whispering. "In The Musicals" samples an indoor basketball court with marimbas and and harp. This is probably the happiest song on the short collection, as Björk wails, "There is always someone to catch me when I fall."
"107 Steps" is oddly, just that. It sounds like a sample from a old noir film, as Björk counts steps along with an orchestra. "New World" finishes off the collection in much the same fashion as "Overture" started it. Björk's full arrangements have always been suitable for film, and this supports that entirely.
By far the best track on the album is, "I Have Seen It All," a duet with Thom Yorke. Much like King Solomon did in Ecclesiastes, Björk and Thom declare "nothing new under the sun" in a sad dialogue. Björk asks, "What about China? Have you seen the Great Wall" and Thom responds, "All walls are great if the roof doesn't fall." Thom returns by stating, "You've never been to Niagra Falls" and Björk states, "I've seen water, it's water that's all." The song develops into Homogenic-esque skipping beats and Thom's sad croon under Björk's heart-wrenching wail.
The placement of this track parallels Björk's character going blind in the film. This is perhaps the struggle with which she fought during production. It is difficult to create such a universal song that fits such a particular situation so beautifully, both preparing me for Björk's new studio release next year and Radiohead's Kid A a few weeks down the road.
Selmasongs is a short collection—too short, really. Björk's craft is developed and as pristine as we've come to expect, but there just isn't enough of it here. She'll retreat to her religious duty and lock herself back in her recording studio, where she will surely shock us with her further brilliance. She plans to stay away from acting and (until I see Dancer In The Dark) though she is a Renaissance-woman, I must say music is her true gift. Selmasongs is just a glimpse of that.
