Björk on SNL: Hmm, B-minus?

(Watch quick, before it gets taken down...)

Icelandic singer Björk gave a highly anticipated performance on "Saturday Night Live" last night, her first on the show in almost ten years. It's an interesting time for Björk: with a new album and high-profile tour imminent, she's seemingly emerging from a kind of artistic cocoon that she appeared to enter after the traumatic experience of filming the nearly unwatchable (in my opinion) "Dancer in the Dark." Think back: the immense artistic achievement of 1997's Homogenic was followed by Vespertine and Medulla (in 2001 and 2004 respectively): introverted, experimental albums with none of Homogenic's vertigo-inducing vistas of sound or emotional intensity. After that, as if to thumb her nose at critics who thought she couldn't get more left-field, she hooked up with Matthew Barney, and their combined effort, "Drawing Restraint," seemed both weaker and weirder than the individual artists' work.

So, when news emerged that Björk would be working with Timbaland on her new album Volta, people like me -- who enjoyed her weirdness, but worried she might be losing her relevance -- rejoiced. The first single, "Earth Intruders," was intriguing both for its accessibility and its distance from what both Björk and Timbaland have done before: a galumphing double-time beat dominates the track, and strangely, its catchiest moments come without a real chorus or "hook." Not necessarily astounding, but pretty good.

With Björk headlining the main stage on the first day of the Coachella festival this Friday (4/27), SNL was to be our "sneak preview" for how she would approach the new material live, and unfortunately, I'm not sure all the bugs are worked out. During "Intruders," the insistent beat was a little overwhelming, muddying up the delicate plinks and squeals that give the track its charm; a troup of female backup singers in primary-colored robes added heft to the chants of "We are the Earth intruders / We are the paratroopers," but when they started blowing on horns, the effect was grating. Bjork herself seemed a bit lost in this song without a center, and only her cries of "Turmoil! / Carnage!" in what passes for the verse captured some of the transcendent vocal tone that's the essence of what Björk does best. For a comparison, check out this video of the Homogenic track "Joga," live -- now that's what I call Björk. Check back here starting Friday night for my updates and reviews from Coachella to see how it all turns out.

Comments

I saw the performance and was struck at how truly bad it was. The music was truly devoid of any content, emotional or intellectual. There was no creativity. I was horrified to see someone with an Apple laptop among the band memebers. Meanwhile Bjork did a hippie girl barefoot dance that was painful in its awkwardness. This is not music. In reality, it's not much of anything.

Posted by: pico mojado on 04/23/07 at 12:29 PM Respond

I agree with Party Ben that this song appears to signal a return to more accessible Bjork music. But I think that it's unfair to expect an artist to regurgitate their past work- what do you want, a Joga remix? It's not an amazing song, not top 40 (but she never is). And, Pico, Bjork always dances like that- "awkward" to you is "original" to her fans. I give it a B+

Posted by: smartyd on 04/23/07 at 1:46 PM Respond

Pico: What's the problem with an Apple laptop? Were they supposed to have a Dell? Bjork's hippie dance did, however, seem a bit awkward to me as well -- like she was looking for the beat and not really finding it.

Smarty: You're right, it's unfair of me to compare Bjork's current work to "Joga," which may be the high point of her career; I can only imagine how frustrating it is to be an artist who's created a masterpiece (or more than one), to have to follow it up. I guess my point was not to say that I was hoping for a Top 40 smash from Bjork (although imagine how great that would be), but to say that I find "Joga" to be accessible, even though it's deeply strange; that's what Bjork's best work has managed to do, I think. Anyway, perhaps we can average our grades and come out at a "B"?

Posted by: Party Ben on 04/23/07 at 3:35 PM Respond

I saw that performance and thought it was awful. I think she was trying to hard to be something but there was nothing there but a bunch of disconnected hoo hah from a girl rube. I waited to hear the horn players as brief as it was, what a disappointment. Lucky for me I DVRed it so after about two minutes I jumped to the next scene and jumped past her next spot. I would rather watch the commercials.

Björk on SNL: Hmm, B-minus?

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