Björk "Hidden place" (part 2)

The second "Hidden place"-single is not as essential as the first one, but should rather be regarded as an extra treat for the most confirmed fans. The definite high-light is the opening à cappella-version of the title-track, with only Björk's vocals and the choir-arrangements from the original version. It's yet another proof of Björk's great vocal abilities, that her voice alone manages to carry the song and make it as omnious and vivid as the original version. The choir-backdrop provides the song an almost church-like atmosphere and makes it even more soothing than the original version. This is the ultimate Björk-lullaby and it should appeal to anyone who enjoyed the strings-only-version of "Jóga", which was performed during the "Homogenic"-tour.

The two B-sides are not as good as the exclusive material on the first disc, but sound more like half-finished or left-over-material. "Mother heroic" is a sweet little tune with Björk performing E. E. Cummings-based lyrics assisted only by a celeste. "Foot soliders" is minimalistic electronica in the vein of the more experimental tracks on Radiohead's excellent "Kid A". There's also a bit of a harp thrown in, played by no less than the lady herself. Björk's vocals add a bit of a jazz-feel, in the vein of "Debut", and the lyrics are again based on a poem by E. E. Cummings (she must really love his work).

Being a captive fan for six years, my expectations for the "Hidden place"-release were great and Björk is coming up to all of them. The title-track being a tear-stained love-song and the exclusive tracks being minimalistic and introvert, this resembles quite a lot the "Jóga"-single, which preceded "Homogenic". Judging from this singles and Björk's pre-release-talk, "Vespertine" is most likely an album filled with "Jóga"s and "All is full of love"s. We are probably just forseeing yet another masterpiece...