Homogenic
Homogenic is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk.[a] It was released on 20 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dravs, the album marked a stylistic change, focusing on similar-sounding music combining electronic beats and string instruments with songs in tribute to her native country Iceland.
This article is about the Björk album. For the Indonesian pop band formerly known as Homogenic, see HMGNC.Homogenic
20 September 1997
1996–1997
- Björk's home (London, England)
- El Cortijo (San Pedro de Alcántara, Spain)
43:35
Homogenic was originally to be produced in her home in London, but was halted due to media attention from Björk surviving a murder attempt by a stalker. She later relocated to Spain to record the album. It marked the first of several production collaborations between Björk and Bell, whom she would cite as a major influence on her musical career.
Upon its release, Homogenic received widespread critical acclaim. It topped the Icelandic albums chart, peaking at number 28 on the US Billboard 200 and number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. The album produced five singles—"Jóga", "Bachelorette", "Hunter", "Alarm Call", and "All Is Full of Love"—and was further promoted with the Homogenic tour (1997–1999). Retrospectively, Homogenic has continued receiving critical acclaim, being listed among the best albums of all time by numerous critics.
Recording and production[edit]
After an extensive tour in support of her 1995 album Post, Björk returned to her home in Maida Vale with an urgent need to write new songs as a form of therapy.[5] Björk would let audio engineer Markus Dravs into her home studio to start creating new songs. The sessions with Dravs and Björk were casual, with Björk allowing Dravs freedom with the album. Björk only left the studio to cook meals for the both of them.[6] One of the first songs created during the sessions was "5 Years" which Dravs created the fast beat for.[6] The progress of Homogenic in these sessions was halted due to a media sensation caused by the suicide of Björk's stalker Ricardo López.[7][8] To deal with the stress of being at home during this incident, Björk imagined herself as the protagonist in a Spanish soap opera.[8] The character's image inspired a song titled "So Broken" which she sang to herself in her kitchen.[8] The song was later included on the Japanese import of the album.[9]
To record in privacy away from the sudden unwanted media interest, Björk's tour drummer Trevor Morais offered his studio in Spain. Björk went to Málaga and arranged to meet with flamenco guitarist Raimundo Amador.[8] Björk had originally intended to stay in Málaga only briefly, but later decided to record the entirety of Homogenic there.[8] Björk made a final trip out of the country before staying in Spain. As she had done since moving to London, Björk returned to Iceland for Christmas.[8] While there, she wrote more new songs for Homogenic, including "Jóga".[10] Before returning to Spain to record, Björk was sidetracked by a two-week worldwide press tour for the promotion of her remix album Telegram, which had just been released.[11] After returning to the studio in Spain in late January, Björk decided to end work with producer Nellee Hooper, who had produced both Debut and Post, as she felt they had "stopped surprising each other".[12][13][14] Björk had intended to produce the album alone, but sought collaborators including Dravs, Howie B, Guy Sigsworth and LFO's Mark Bell.[12] Howie B had worked with Björk on Debut and Post and Sigsworth had played harpsichord on Post.[13][14] The American hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan almost contributed to the production of Homogenic, but were unable due to their production on the album Wu-Tang Forever, which had taken longer than planned.[12] Most of the melodies on the album were created by Björk, who then composed string sections on a Casio keyboard and brought them to programmers who would add rhythmic patterns.[15] Björk had wanted to have Mark Bell contribute to her albums Debut and Post;[16] Bell was credited for the majority of the album's production, including the songs "Pluto", "Alarm Call", and the bassline in "Jóga". Björk stated that she "trusts and respects what [Bell] does for me. If I were to say who has influenced me most it would be Stockhausen, Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Mark Bell".[12] Other unorthodox methods of recording were used during the production, including Björk wanting to record outside on the porch and using non-professionals to help with production, such as Rebecca Storey, who was hired as a babysitter but added to the production staff after showing interest in the equipment.[17][18]
String arrangements were added late in the recording process.[18] Björk had friend Eumir Deodato conduct, transcribe and compose original pieces for the few songs that Björk did not arrange for herself.[18] To keep with the Icelandic theme of the album, Björk ordered the services of the Icelandic String Octet.[18] By June 1997, the album was behind schedule and Björk was uncertain of the final track listing and unhappy with some of the recorded vocals.[19]
Music and lyrics[edit]
Homogenic is an electronica,[20][21] trip hop,[22] art pop,[23] and experimental album.[24] Before production began on Homogenic, Björk wanted to create an album with "a simple sound" and "only one flavour".[5] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the sound of Homogenic as a "fusion of chilly strings (courtesy of the Icelandic String Octet), stuttering, abstract beats, and unique touches like accordion and glass harmonica".[25] The album differs from her previous two releases stylistically, and Neva Chonin of Rolling Stone stated the album was "certain to be rough going for fans looking for the sweet melodies and peppy dance collages of her earlier releases".[26] As with other Björk releases, it has been difficult for critics to classify Homogenic within a musical genre. Tiny Mix Tapes considered that "Björk has managed to create something so refreshingly unique that trying to categorize and label the music is rather dubious."[24] Writing for Beats Per Minute, Cole Zercoe felt Homogenic represented a pinnacle work of trip hop, forming part of "a sort of holy trinity of this musical aesthetic" along with Massive Attack's Mezzanine and Portishead's Dummy.[22]
Björk wanted Homogenic to have a conceptual focus on her native Iceland. Producer Markus Dravs recalled Björk wanting it to sound like "rough volcanoes with soft moss growing all over it..."[5] In an interview for Oor, Björk explained that "in Iceland, everything revolves around nature, 24 hours a day. Earthquakes, snowstorms, rain, ice, volcanic eruptions, geysers... Very elementary and uncontrollable. But at the other hand, Iceland is incredibly modern; everything is hi-tech. The number of people owning a computer is as high as nowhere else in the world. That contradiction is also on Homogenic. The electronic beats are the rhythm, the heartbeat. The violins create the old-fashioned atmosphere, the colouring."[27][28]
Björk's vocals on Homogenic range from primitive-sounding screams to a traditional singing method used by Icelandic choir men, a combination of speaking and singing as illustrated in the song "Unravel".[29][30] The majority of songs on Homogenic have lyrics about love and failed relationships. The song "Jóga" was written as a tribute to her best friend and tour masseuse of the same name.[10] Björk called "All is Full of Love" a song about "believing in love" and that "Love isn't just about two persons. It's everywhere around you".[31] "All Neon Like" contains snippets of a poem Björk wrote called "Techno Prayer" in 1996. The song "5 Years" appeared in live form a few weeks after her breakup with musician Tricky and music journalists considered it a response to it.[25][32] "Bachelorette" was originally written for director Bernardo Bertolucci for his film Stealing Beauty.[33] Björk later faxed Bertolucci, informing him the song would be used for her album instead.[33] "Bachelorette" and "Jóga" were written with Icelandic poet Sjón, because Björk wanted to use epic lyrics.[33][34] "Immature" was written about mistakes in past relationships, shortly after the breakup with Goldie.[35] Björk described "Pluto" as about "being plastered, that need to destroy everything so you can start again".[36] "Unravel" is a song about lamenting love, with brief flashes of hope.[37]
Singles[edit]
"Jóga" was released as the lead single from Homogenic on 15 September 1997 to widespread critical acclaim. It peaked atop the Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 in Iceland,[59] while reaching the top 20 in Finland.[60] Due to its formats, it was initially ineligible to enter the UK Singles Chart, but later peaked at number 191.[61] Its mostly computer-animated accompanying music video was directed by Michel Gondry and focuses primarily on different Icelandic terrains and landscapes with Björk's presence only in the beginning and towards the end.[62]
"Bachelorette" was released as the second single on 8 December. While less successful than "Jóga" in Björk's native Iceland, peaking at number six,[63] it was an improvement from "Jóga" in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at numbers 21 and two on the UK Singles Chart and UK Indie Chart, respectively.[64] Gondry returned to direct the music video for "Bachelorette", which features Björk as Bachelorette, a woman who finds a book titled My Story buried in her garden which begins to write itself, describing what Bachelorette does as she describes it. It won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Art Direction and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.
"Hunter" was released as the third single on 5 October 1998. Despite being critically acclaimed, it was a commercial failure, as it peaked only at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart.[64] Its accompanying music video, directed by Paul White, features a close-up of a bald Björk singing into the camera as she morphs into a polar bear and then back to her original state.[65]
"Alarm Call" was originally scheduled for release as the third single, but switched places with "Hunter".[66] It was released as the fourth single on 30 November 1998 and returned Björk to the top ten of Íslenski Listinn Topp 40, as its French mix peaked at number ten.[67] In the UK, the song peaked at numbers 33 and three on the UK Singles Chart and UK Indie Chart, respectively.[64] The song's accompanying music video was directed by Alexander McQueen,[68] who designed the cover artwork for Homogenic, and features Björk floating on a raft on a river in the jungle and her scenes are intercut with footage of snakes, crocodiles, and other animals, with Björk playing with them.
"All Is Full of Love" was released as the fifth and final single on 7 June 1999. DVD single was simultaneously released; some publications regard it as the first DVD single release ever.[69][70] Critically acclaimed, the song peaked at numbers 24 and three on the UK Singles Chart and UK Indie Chart, respectively.[64] It became the only single from Homogenic to enter a chart in the United States, peaking at number eight on the Dance/Electronic Singles Sales chart.[71] Directed by Chris Cunningham, the song's music video depicts Björk as a robot being assembled in a factory, who passionately kisses another robot. The video is often cited as one of the best of all time and a milestone in computer animation; it has been displayed in art exhibitions and was on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[72]
Accolades[edit]
American critics rated Homogenic highly in year-end polls. It topped The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll,[83] while Spin ranked it number four in their "Top 20 Albums of the Year".[84]
In Britain. Melody Maker ranked it at number 33 in the "Albums of the Year" and NME placed it at number 15 in a critics' poll.[85][86]
Homogenic was nominated in the Best Alternative Music Performance category at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards (1998), losing to Radiohead's OK Computer.[87][88]
Michel Gondry's music video for "Bachelorette" was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards (1999), but lost to Jonas Åkerlund's video for Madonna's "Ray of Light".[89][90] At the next year's ceremony, Chris Cunningham's video for "All Is Full of Love" was nominated for the same award, but lost to Korn's "Freak on a Leash".
Homogenic earned Björk the Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist at the 1998 ceremony. Accepting the award, she declared: "I am grateful grapefruit."[57]
Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke cited it as his favourite album. "She's a real genius," he said. "No one's been as radical or innovative and still made pop music. I got into it when I was first discovering music. It still has a deep resonance for me."[91]
Commercial performance[edit]
Homogenic debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart on 4 October 1997, spending 17 weeks on the chart.[92] It debuted at number six on the Australian Albums Chart on 12 October 1997,[93] but descended to number 45 after five weeks on the chart. The album debuted at number eight on the New Zealand Albums Chart on 12 October 1997,[94] and peaked at number six the following week, but descended after six weeks on the chart.[94]
In the United States, Homogenic debuted at number 28 on the Billboard 200, spending a total of nine weeks inside the chart, where its final position was at number 164.[95] The album was certified gold on 1 August 2001 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 500,000 copies.[96][97] Homogenic debuted at twenty on the Canadian Albums Chart, becoming Björk's first album to enter the chart but spent only one week there.[95] It was certified gold by the Music Canada on 12 June 1998.[98][99]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Homogenic.[116]