Biophilia

by 
AlbumOct 11 / 201113 songs, 1h 4m 2s
Art Pop Electronic
Popular Highly Rated

An extended ode to the natural world, *Biophilia* buzzes with bright, pure tones: “Moon” sets Björk’s slowly swelling harmonies against tranquil harp, and “Crystalline” applies the same stripped-down aesthetic to chimes and crisp, staccato drums. “Dark Matter” quivers with rich, resonant pipe organ, while “Mutual Core” explodes a church-like hush into bold, distorted percussion, and “Nattura” features shuddering, heavy-metal drumming by Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale. Great, cosmic forces hold sway: Rarely has Björk gotten so close to the essence of things in her music.

Biophilia is the seventh studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter and musician Björk, featuring Cosmogony, Moon, Moon, Crystalline. Biophilia is an interdisciplinary exploration of the universe and its physical forces - particularly those where music, nature, and technology meet. The album is inspired by these relationships between musical structures and natural phenomena, from the atomic to the cosmic. The Independent on Sunday called it "brilliantly original and ambitious."

6.2 / 10

Björk's eighth full-length release may be her most ambitious yet. The nature-themed Biophilia is supported with iPad apps, a series of live shows, and a forthcoming documentary, but sometimes the cross-platform zeal outstrips the songwriting. * *

F

Björk’s seventh full-length, Biophilia, is being touted as an “interdisciplinary project” comprising concerts, workshops, websites, and iPad apps that correspond to each song. Oh, yes, the songs: They also apparently have something to do with Biophilia—although Björk has assured the world that, in spite of its…

8.5 / 10

It's hard to even explain the 'what' of Bjork's eighth album, Biophilia, much less the ‘how’. An entire article could be…

Check out our album review of Artist's Biophilia on Rolling Stone.com.

Over the years, the packaging of Björk's albums grew famously, and increasingly, elaborate, but Biophilia is the first Björk project where the set of songs isn’t the complete package.

Created easily the most unique album of the year...Fact - Bjork's simply not like other artists.

5.0 / 10

Since 1997's Homogenic, Björk's career peak in this writer's opinion, she has released a new album every three to four years and with each new release, she has yielded fewer returns.

9 / 10

Once you strip back all of the collaborations, soundtracks and remix projects, ‘Biophilia’ is actually only Björk’s seventh solo studio album.

<p>Björk's new album is possibly best experienced as a series of apps, but she's not forgotten to write some great songs too, writes <strong>Kitty Empire </strong></p>

Björk seems to have given the 10 songs that constitute Biophilia a supporting role in the New-Age-goes-New-Media Biophilia experience.

8 / 10

Heralded as the future of music, Björk's album/app is a whirl of&nbsp;innovation – and the music's beautiful, writes <strong>Alexis Petridis</strong>

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88 %

4.5 / 5

Bjork - Biophilia review: Beautifully textured and downright cerebral,

Björk's voice is prayer-full of human yearning in Biophilia.

Whistles, bells and universal ambition - but is it any good? CD review by Joe Muggs

8 / 10