Björk – ‘Post’
After releasing her groundbreaking first record, Debut, in 1993, noted for its unique blend of genres, including jazz, house, pop, and techno, Björk shared her sophomore record, Post, two years later. While Debut is an incredible record, Post demonstrates a greater level of artistry, with Björk experimenting with a wider array of genres, honing her lyrical skills, and creating a distinctively more expansive sound.
Post begins with the pounding and defiant ‘Army of Me’, which sees Björk assert herself over the subject, demanding “self sufficience, please!” It’s the perfect opener, with the first seconds seemingly mimicking an explosion, inadvertently reflecting the monumental impact the record would soon have on popular music. The driving synths and intense drum beats feel like a cry to action, with Björk not taking no for an answer. ‘Army of Me’ reminds us that, no matter how delicate or vulnerable the album gets, Björk possesses an innate strength that will carry her through the breadth of these feelings. Subsequently, the album’s journey through genres, from trip-hop to salsa, demonstrates the human need for variation and change as we attempt to navigate the different facets of our emotions.
In essence, Björk explores the complexity of the human experience on Post, using her songs to comment on various topics, from the intricacies of love, sex and music, to dense topics like existentialism and industrialisation. In ‘Hyper-ballad’, Björk uses a simmering, muted beat as she ponders her mortality, singing hefty lines such as “I imagine what my body would sound like/ Slamming against those rocks”. However, the song isn’t as negative as Björk initially suggests, with the singer declaring that these thoughts offer help to greatly appreciate her lover. As it reaches its climax, with Björk repeating “safe up here with you”, ‘Hyper-ballad’ twists into something entirely romantic, echoed in its subtle outburst of lush strings and the passion of its club-infused beats.
Later, the Icelandic singer discusses the contrast between the natural world and man-made cities in ‘The Modern Things’ and ‘Isobel’, with the former seeing Björk switch between English and her mother tongue. She marries themes of worldly transformation with internal change and development as a warping synth metamorphosises into a marching beat. On ‘Isobel’, which appears a few tracks later, Björk embodies a character born in a forest who finds herself exposed to the modern, industrial world, where people are too uptight. Isobel sends moths to bother city dwellers, who deliver her message of intuition and instructions for living more freely.
The track is easily one of the most extraordinary cuts on the album, with the instrumentation possessing an almost-tribal sensibility. The lyrics come to life as militaristic beats coincide with trumpets and sprawling strings, giving the song an innately cinematic feel. Inspired by magical realism, ‘Isobel’ demonstrates Björk’s skills of combining fantasy with real-world concerns, using story-telling techniques to convey her worries that people are losing sight of what it means to be human and enjoy life.
This theme of experiencing life without restraint is echoed on ‘Enjoy’, written in collaboration with trip-hop master Tricky. Björk wishes for love to be simple, and she posits herself as a woman unafraid to prioritise happiness and openly welcome all that life offers. The thumping track bridges the gap between her most commercially accessible cut, ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, and the minimal ‘You’ve Been Flirting Again’. The former, a cover of Betty Hutton’s 1951 track, sounds strikingly different to the rest of Post, yet it demonstrates Björk’s sheer creativity, allowing her to take a decades-old song and completely transform it into something new.
However, the lyrics suit the album’s doubtful exploration of love, which continues on the astounding ‘Possibly Maybe’, a flawless trip-hop ballad. Despite retaining a mellow, subdued tone, Björk punctuates the soundscape with deep bass, as fractured sounds accompany her helpless questioning, “How can you offer me love like that?”
This sadness is immediately alleviated on ‘I Miss You’, an all-embracing dance anthem, complete with Latin-inspired instrumentation. Björk delivers one of the album’s most impressive vocal performances, reflecting her passion for a lover she has not yet met, only in a dream. However, this transition from the meditative sadness of ‘Possibly Maybe’ to the energy of ‘I Miss You’ feels like a completely natural reaction, with Björk employing the strength she demonstrated in ‘Army of Me’ to prevent herself from wallowing in total helplessness.
The final two tracks on Post see Björk take a quieter approach, focusing her attention away from romantic love, instead expressing her gratitude for her music and collaborators. On ‘Cover Me’, Björk addresses Nellee Hooper over a beautiful soundscape that evokes the sound of mystery and exploration, perfectly matching the lyrics, “I’m going to prove the impossible really exists”. The song seamlessly flows into ‘Headphones’, dedicated to Graham Massey, in which Björk expresses her love for music, recognising its abilities to provide comfort. Whereas tracks like ‘I Miss You’ and ‘Army of Me’ demonstrate Björk’s talents for creating full-sounding, ornate floor-fillers, ‘Headphones’ epitomises the album’s quieter moments – downtempo yet gorgeously layered and intricately crafted.
As Post moves between ambient sounds, evocative trip-hop, expansive jazz, and dance-infused anthems, Björk never loses sight of herself and her desires. She is often uncertain, but she embraces her doubts, weaving these hopes and fears into the album’s instrumentation and allowing the complexity of human emotions to manifest in the record’s breadth of sounds and genres. Post is an avant-pop masterpiece, achieving a cohesive sound without sticking to one strict idea. Instead, Björk’s love for experimentation triumphs, resulting in one of her most magnificent records.