Björk "Hidden place" (part 1)

"Hidden place" is the first single from Björk's new album "Vespertine". She claims to have done the record partly as a "hobby-project" during the filming of Lars von Trier's semi-musical -tragedy "Dancer in the dark". Anyone who has been following the Björk-press lately, knows she often refers to the new album as "the opposite of Homogenic". Whereas "Homogenic" was a very stark "in-your-face"-experience, "Vespertine" is said to be a lot more quiet and introvert. "Hidden place", however, sounds actually surprisingly similar to the calmer moments on "Homogenic". You have all the successful ingredients from "Jóga" or the single-version of "All is full of love": mid-tempo Warp-sounding background-beats (courtesy of Matmos, this time), the now trademark-Björk-string-section and a beautiful crescendo before the tear-stained chorus. The biggest surprise is to find a choir singing along to the other instruments, throughout the song. The choir- arrangements are kept very sparse and create a nice backdrop for Björk's vocals. Rather than breaking new ground, "Hidden place" sees Björk in terms of refining and improving at what she already did great on "Homogenic" and "Selmasongs", (even the accent is still there), which is just fine, since this woman has provided us with so much innovation already.

Not being a fan of endless dance-remixes, I was delighted to find out the two EPs contain as much as four exclusive tracks! As usual, Björk has used her sparse and minimalistic songs as B-sides. First out, the experimental "Generous palmstroke" is the definite high-light among the exclusive material. It starts very quiet with Björk speaking in Icelandic, accompanied by a harp (courtesy of Zeena). When Björk starts singing, the song gains an almost folk-song-like character. There are some background-vocals, which create an eerie "Possibly maybe"-like atmosphere. All of a sudden the harp is replaced by industrial Einstürzende Neubauten-like background-noises. The harp is back as the song gains intensity, but this time Zeena is playing it vigorously! This is a must-hear for any fan of Björk's darker, more experimental songs!

"Verandi", the third song on the first "Hidden place"-EP is an up-tempo-song (as "up-tempo" as Björk gets in 2001, that is), sounding a bit like a slower "Karvel", with the string-section and the distorted background-beats from "Homogenic". Some oriental influences can be traced and in the middle there's a beautiful, dramatic interludium. A nice ending to yet another remarkable release, which continues Björk's travel into a slower, more mature musical territory.