Volta
1 May 2007
2005–2007
- Sony Music, the Looking Glass (New York City)
- Olympic, Pierce Rooms (London)
- Geejam (Portland, Jamaica)
- Studios Caraïbes (Brussels)
- Studios Bogolan (Bamako)
51:03
The album received positive reviews and is Björk's first and only album to reach the top 10 on the US Billboard 200, peaking at number nine. Volta spent nine weeks at number one on the US Top Electronic Albums chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. In the United Kingdom it was certified silver. The lead single, "Earth Intruders", reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart, while the remix EP later charted on its own at number 150. In the United States, the song became her second entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 84. Volta was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards.
The album was re-released in June 2009 in expanded versions, under the name Voltaïc. There were five separate versions of related material from Volta. The full version included a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios, a DVD of live performances in Paris and Reykjavík during the Volta tour, a second DVD of the Volta music videos, videos of the top ten runners-up from the "Innocence" video contest, and a second CD of remixes from Volta's singles.[3] The official worldwide release date of all editions was 23 June 2009.[4] The artwork was nominated for an award at the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards.[5] It was a collaboration between the German fashion designer Bernhard Willhelm and British fashion photographer Nick Knight.[6] Björk went on the 18-month Volta tour, her first tour in four years.
Singles[edit]
The lead single from Volta was "Earth Intruders", released digitally on 9 April 2007, though leaked on 6 April 2007.[71][72] Originally expected to be released as a physical single on 21 May 2007, the release was instead replaced by another digital release, "Earth Intruders – Club Mixes", via iTunes. Indeed, there were no chart eligible physical singles released at all during the Volta era, although box sets were eventually released of each single some months after the corresponding digital release.
The second single from Volta was originally meant to be "Declare Independence", but due to the worldwide success of Volta Björk had to perform more international promotion work than her label One Little Indian had originally planned, meaning that the previously planned video shoot for "Declare Independence" with Michel Gondry in London could not take place. The deadline for the music video contest for "Innocence" (originally announced on 19 March 2007) was then brought forward a month to 10 June 2007 so as to provide a finished video able to coincide with the July release originally planned for Declare Independence. "Innocence", the other Timbaland-co-produced track, was released digitally across the globe on 23 July 2007. It was announced that the release would be available in the US on 31 July 2007,[73] though this date was moved later.
"Declare Independence" was released as the third single from Volta on 1 January 2008.[74] The video, directed by Michel Gondry (his seventh video with Björk, and the first since 1997's Bachelorette), was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007 and on Channel 4 in the UK on 13 December 2007.[75][76] A making-of was made available on November 29, 2007.[77] The video shoot took place on 11 October 2007 in New York City.[78] Unlike the first two singles from Volta, the single has a physical release in the form of two 12-inch vinyls, a CD and a DVD.[79]
On 7 April 2007, the "Mark Stent Extended Edit" of "Earth Intruders" was released on the Australian iTunes Store; most other iTunes Stores made the single available on April 9, the official release date of the digital single.[80] The album version of Earth Intruders (which differs from the iTunes Store version both in terms of mixing and track length) was leaked to the Internet on 24 April 2007, due to the full album being made available accidentally on the UK iTunes Store on 23 April 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date.[55]
A digital-only "Earth Intruders – Club Mixes" EP was released on the iTunes Store in the US and UK on 21 May 2007. The European iTunes release contained only three of the original five tracks.[81] It is only the second time (the first being "Play Dead") that an instrumental of a Björk track has been officially released. With this release, it was determined that "Earth Intruders" would have no physical release in any territory worldwide. Also, the Mark Stent mix was initially labelled as an "Extended Edit", but on 23 May 2007, was retitled to "Radio Edit"; the "xxxChange Mix" was retitled from the previous non-descriptive title "Earth Intruders Remix".[82]
Music videos[edit]
The music video for "Earth Intruders" was directed by Michel Ocelot. It features Björk's face floating in the background, first upside down, then upright, singing with her eyes closed. In the foreground, a large group of silhouetted tribal warriors dance in time to the music. The video features psychedelic colours and patterns imposed on an earthy backdrop. The video ends with Björk's face slowly fading into the middle of a glade, her eyes being opened just as she sings the last lyric. Ocelot stated that Björk had originally wanted Kirikou to be featured as a 20-year-old in the video.[129][130] It was accomplished within strict time constraints through a combination of live-action, silhouette animation, 3D computer graphics, traditional animation, cut-outs and other special effects.[131] "Kirikou" was danced by Legrand Bemba-Debert in a costume made, based on Ocelot's ideas, by paper sculptor Anne-Lise Kœhler.[132] The full video was made available in the iTunes Store on 24 April 2007.[133] It was nominated for the 2007 Q Award for Best Video.[134]
A fan contest to submit ideas for the music video for "Innocence" was announced, with the intention being that Björk would work with the chosen fan director to fully flesh out the video idea.[135] The original deadline for the competition was to be on July 10; however, a decision was subsequently made to move the deadline for the contest forward by a month to June 10 in order to release the track "Innocence" around the same period that "Declare Independence" would have been originally released. The decision was met with mixed reactions by fans as many were subsequently unable to submit their ideas due to the new deadline.[136][137] The shooting for the video of "Declare Independence", originally announced as the album's second single, was rescheduled to August.[138] On 27 July 2007 it was announced that the winner of the video contest was to be decided via an online poll from a shortlist of eleven videos. On 7 August 2007, the winners, a French duo known only as Fred & Annabelle, were chosen.[139]
The military-themed video for "Declare Independence" was directed by French director Michel Gondry.[140] The video shoot was originally going to take place in August 2007 in London, but it was eventually rescheduled to 11 October 2007 in New York City.[78] The finished video was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007.[76] It opens with Mark Bell standing on a wall suspended above Björk, playing a loom-shaped bass guitar. The strings from this guitar thread themselves through Björk's megaphone, the helmets of several foot soldiers and then up through a pulley system before returning to the guitar. As the song progresses, the strings are spraypainted with several colours as they pass through the loop. All the people in the video including Björk wear jumpsuits with the flags of Greenland and the Faroe Islands on their shoulders.[141] The video is also available on the DVD compilation Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1).[142] A video was shot for the track "Wanderlust",[143] directed by Encyclopedia Pictura and shot in New York City in stereoscopic 3D.[144] The video involves "a mixture of large scale puppeteering, live action acrobatics, miniatures, and CG".[144] The video was released in February 2008.[145] Björk said in an interview that she and ANOHNI had recorded themselves singing "The Dull Flame of Desire" on a green screen, then she sent the video to three directors who had taken part in the "Innocence" video contest, and the directors made "The Dull Flame of Desire" video together via e-mail. She credited three "Innocence" competition applicants as the promotional video's directors: Cristoph Jantos, Masahiro Mogari, and Marçal Cuberta Junca.[146]
Notes