Happy 25th Anniversary to Björk’s second studio album Post, originally released June 13, 1995.
When Björk released her aptly titled Debut album in 1993, it was an introduction of sorts. Following the demise of The Sugarcubes she set forth on a wonderful adventure. With Debut, she refashioned songs a decade in the making and delivered an album that, despite initial predictions, captivated the world.
Debut is about expression. Intimate. Isolated. Looking out. It’s counterpoint, 1995’s follow-up Post is more focused on exploration.
Having moved from the natural landscapes of Iceland into the bustling and confronting big city appetite of London, Björk’s second LP is very much an album of “after.” It is the sound of discovery and journey. Less looking out as an astute anthropological observer, and more living out, getting in amongst it. Exposing oneself to the world and letting the world expose itself in return.
Initial sessions recorded in the Bahamas yielded a sense of freedom for Björk as she crafted her tones with a sense of joy. Here she and collaborators let sounds shape the songs and let access to their surroundings influence the feel of several efforts. Rumors abound the vocals were recorded on the edge of beaches, singing into the sea, and dug from the depths of caves. All very plausible and all very Björk, who was never going to be your average singer-songwriter.
Returning to London to flesh out the album, Björk pulled in more collaborators to help add warmth and greater musicality to the collection that was very stark and heavily beat-driven. The result is an album that is, as Björk herself puts it, “musically promiscuous” with songs not only cross-pollinating genres within the flow of the album, but within the very fiber of the songs themselves.
Opening with the plodding heaviness of “Army of Me” Björk sets to shatter any expectations the listener may have. Menacing and mechanical, “Army of Me” is strangely motivational with its “get your shit together” sensibilities. Melding trip-hop with industrial and bubbling techno with eerie horn flourishes and skittish synth runs, the track is a sonic feast that emboldens the listener with every bar. And Björk delivers a powerful, near raspy vocal that grabs you from the first line.
Listen to the Album & Watch the Official Videos:
The spell cast by “Army of Me” doesn’t let up for the remaining forty plus minutes of the album. With “Hyperballad”—one of the most twistedly romantic songs ever dedicated to wax—Björk offers some self-care tips to surviving one’s need of self and sharing space with another. She describes how each morning before her lover wakes, she climbs to the top of a mountain and throws things off in a sense of cleansing and survival. It’s wild and lovely all at once. A sense of self and sacrifice. With a constantly propulsive beat that shutters along, little melodic blips and blops wind their way to the pounding energy of the chorus where Björk’s vocals take that leap off the mountain and soar around before coming back to earth. “Hyperballad” has to go down as one of Björk’s greatest moments on record and without a doubt, it’s one of the most exciting songs of the ‘90s.
All the bluster is stripped bare for the moving “The Modern Thing” that lets Björk’s vocals swirl and wind their way through expression as they soothe one moment and explode in the next. Lyrically, Björk ponders if all of life’s great inventions have always existed, just waiting to be (metaphorically) dug up and discovered.
Whilst the unexpected should be expected with Björk, few would have predicted a soft shoe shuffle into big band with a cover of a relative obscure B-side by Betty Hutton. But “It’s Oh So Quiet” not only works, but it does so with pure abandon. As the last track recorded for Post, it’s inclusion was meant to shake things up for the listener, but it would also do the same for the artist with its accompanying life-in-technicolor video catapulting Björk into the pop mainstream.
Balancing out the pop sensibilities of “Quiet,” the following track “Enjoy” delves into the darker side of things with a stalking beat and near threatening horn stabs as Björk gives into her most lust-filled desires. Its prickly and grating, and delightfully satisfying. It’s the kind of song you could see Trent Reznor aching to cover.
With “Isobel,” Björk retreats to the forest in a semi-autobiographical telling of a clash between modern living and nature. Backed with lush string arrangements, “Isobel” is an enchanting listen that is sensual and comforting set against a series of rolling tribal inspired percussion. As Björk’s vocal expressions are so idiosyncratic, it makes sense that they’re the main focus of your listening experience. But a song like “Isobel” also displays her ability to layer lush beds of backing vocals that wrap around you like a warm hug.
A sense of solace and haunting is present in “Possibly Maybe” with its hypnotic slow melody and trip-hop inspired back beat. It’s a slow unwinding of defenses and letting go of any hope. Although it is ultimately a song of heartache, the arrangement makes it comforting.
Enjoying this article? Click/tap on the album covers to explore more about Björk:
From heartache to hope, Björk takes us on a trippy mix of Zydeco and Afro-Cuban inspiration with “I Miss You” that unfolds on the listener in a joyous way akin to rolling down a long hill in sunshine. There’s an impatience in the music that reflects the lyrical turn as Björk sings, “I Miss You / But I Haven’t Met You Yet.”
“Cover Me” is a stripped back moment of revealing admiration that skews any sense of structure with a wicked smile.
The album closer “Headphones” is, as the title suggests, best experienced with said devices in place. Like a guided meditation, Björk is a sonic tour guide talking through a real time creation of sound. Aided (and inspired) by Tricky, the track is a perfect representation of Björk as avant-garde artist. And the perfect reminder of the many jewels to be uncovered in subsequent albums.
There is no denying the impact of Björk’s collection of cohorts with the likes of Nellee Hooper, Tricky, and Graham Massey lending their brilliance to creating the sonic landscapes for Björk to trip through. But it’s always to serve her discovery, for her to chart the map and for us to follow.
As the “after” statement, Post places a wonderful full stop on the early phase of Björk’s expansive and varied career. It is still an album that takes you places and makes you feel in response to the energy each track puts out. If you haven’t heard it in a while, carve out 40 minutes to enjoy its charms.
LISTEN: