Today marks the release of Utopia, the new album from Björk. Apple Music and Spotify users can stream it in full down below.
Utopia marks the Icelandic artist’s ninth full-length overall. The LP was penned primarily by Björk, with five of the 14 tracks co-written by Arca, who featured prominently on the LP’s predecessor, 2015’s acclaimed Vulnicura. Arca also produced all except one of the album’s songs.
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For the record, Björk formed a twelve piece Icelandic female flute orchestra, which she arranged for and conducted. She also wrote an arrangement for Hamrahlíðarkórinn, a choir conducted by Þorgerður Ingólfsdóttir. The album was edited and structured by Björk on Protools. It was engineered by Bergur Þórisson, Bart Migal and Chris Elms. It was mixed by Heba Kadry and Marta Salogni and mastered by Mandy Parnell.
The magnificent artwork (seen above) was designed by frequent collaborator Jesse Kanda, with assistance from Björk, James Merry, and Hungry.
While Vulnicura was focused on heartbreak, Björk describes this new material as her “Tinder record,” adding that it’s “about being in love. Spending time with a person you enjoy on every level is obviously utopia…I mean, it’s real. It’s when the dream becomes real.”
In her B+ review of the album, Consequence of Sound’s Sasha Geffen writes:
“Björk suffuses her new album, Utopia, with expressions of that love, whether it manifests as tentative online courtship rituals, screeds of devotion to a close friend, or promises to her daughter that the traumas of the past won’t infect the future. If Vulnicura watched volcanic ash blanketing the life Björk had come to depend on, Utopia paints brand-new life rising from the fertile ground.”
Utopia Tracklist:
01. Arisen My Senses
02. Blissing Me
03. The Gate
04. Utopia
05. Body Memory
06. Features Creatures
07. Courtship
08. Loss
09. Sue Me
10. Tabula Rasa
11. Claimstaker
12. Paradisa
13. Saint
14. Future Forever