Björkophilia

Björk Guðmundsdóttir has a new album, Biophilia, on the way, and the single "Crystalline" was released this week. As she explains it, the new work is the result of "a lot of research and reading" about structures in nature and in music – "where they are similar." This aligns with recent work by Oliver Sacks, for one. His 2007 book Musicophilia talks about they ways music interacts with our brain chemistry. I'm guessing the similarity in titles is no coincidence.

 Björk also commissioned some unique new musical instruments for the album, one of which is described in the video below. She kicks off the public introduction to this opus with a six-night stand at the Manchester International Festival tonight. To me, she's one of the most exciting, influential and original performers of the last few decades, and I hope the subsequent tour can land within a few hundred miles of here, at least.

   
The Gameleste - a custom instrument for Björk from Andy McCreeth on Vimeo.