‘It’s Oh So Quiet’: How Björk’s genre-defying opus changed music forever
“You can’t blame the computer. If there’s no soul in the music, it’s because nobody put it there.” Those were Björk’s words when she was defending electronic music and mocking those who try to claim it is irrelevant. This summarises her attitude towards music, not just electronic music, but experimental means of making music in general. She wasn’t bothered about the tools she used so long as the music produced was full of soul.
Björk’s debut album, appropriately named Debut, was a good selection of songs, but the singer became somewhat restricted with what she could do thanks to standard pop convention. When she released her second record, Post, the public saw Björk at her fullest. It was clear that she didn’t care what genres she drew from when making music, so long as those genres sounded good and she could inject her soul into them.
There were a variety of genres that Björk took from when putting this record together, including electronic music, jazz, acid jazz, hyperpop, and even show tunes. The result was an album that was messy in its description but cohesive and well-put-together in its sound. It was something that people hadn’t heard before from a pop artist, and the world couldn’t get enough.
There was no consistency in the album; the only thing consistent was Björk, but that’s something that people were drawn to. The record brought a true element of unpredictability, which fascinated everyone who listened.
The biggest track from the album was ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’, a song reminiscent of the Rat Pack thanks to the big band element injected into it. The song was theatrical, as Björk delivered a narrative-laced song almost reminiscent of what people would see on stage at a musical. There was a real sense of storytelling throughout it, and when paired alongside the other songs on the album, it stood out even more, given it was one of the only singles with jazz elements present.
The popularity of the song isn’t surprising from a musical point of view as it’s a great track; however, it is surprising from a conventional point of view, given how avant-garde it was and the fact it was so far removed from what people were used to in pop music. What Björk did with that song may have changed music forever, as now, many popular artists enjoy embracing genre-defying music, but they likely wouldn’t have done it if not for Björk.
Today, we are willing to explore different genres in the music we listen to and enjoy it when artists try to take from various sounds. However, we likely wouldn’t have had this attitude were it not for Björk. Björk took the concept of a multi-genre album and made it a reality, showing people what full-blown creativity could sound like and leaving them gasping for more. It started with quiet, but the music industry has been loud as hell with different styles and sounds ever since.