FEATURE:
No Possibly Maybe About It…
Björk’s Masterpiece, Post, at Twenty-Five
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SOME albums…
IN THIS PHOTO: Björk in 1995/PHOTO CREDIT: Anton Corbijn
hit you like a sledgehammer when they first come out and they seem to get more extraordinary and genius the more time ticks on! Björk’s Post was released on 13th June, 1995 and, as it is twenty-five on Saturday, I wanted to talk about a very special and important album. Her second album – after Debut came out in 1993 -, it is amazing to think there were some in 1995 who were not completely sold on Post! I love Björk’s music and think that everything she does is wonderful. Post is one of those albums that has picked up a lot more attention and praise years down the line - maybe Björk was ahead of her time or Post was a bit too different-sounding to anything that was around that year. Post saw Björk expanding her palette and taking on most of the production duties (through she did work with other producers) – Nellee Hooper was in charge on Debut. Debut is a phenomenal album with a range of sounds, but I think Post is even more eclectic, daring and consistent. A lot of artists who throw so much into the mix can come off a bit muddled and it all sounds a bit too busy and disconnected. Post is an album that sports everything from Trip-Hop and Dance to Jazz; Björk moved to London at the time and, in many ways, her second album was a sonic representation of London’s scenes, clubs and people. Though Post did receive a lot of acclaim in 1995 – and topped a lot of ‘best of’ lists -, I still think some overlooked the album or wrote it off as a bit of an oddity with no real substance or appeal. Björk always had an ear on the U.K. Dance scene, and you can hear that cropping up a lot in Debut.
On Post, that continues, but we get influence from bands like Massive Attack and Portishead; no doubt, she would have gravitated their way and been intrigued by what was coming out of cities like Bristol in 1993 and 1994. Although Björk is Icelandic, I think England was very special to her at a young age. In terms of the image and sound of Post, it owes more to England than it does to Iceland. I do think Debut is a remarkable album, but Post was the album where she broke through and transitioned from this unique singer for The Sugarcubes and become this global star. Nellee Hooper – the amazing British producer – was asked to produce Post, but he initially refused and felt it best Björk produce it. The two did produce together on Post, but there is much more of Björk’s input on Post compared with Debut. I do love the fact that, as it is rumoured, she went to some strange places to record some vocals. I think Cover Me’s first verse was recorded from a cave, whereas Possibly Maybe was recorded nude – so they say, anyway! I guess Björk did record vocals for There’s More to Life Than This at the Milk Bar Toilets on Debut, and she was always seeking that special and unique sound! If Debut was a little reserved (for Björk!), Post is the artist immersed in England and embracing all these wonderful and urgent sounds.
Post is such a colourful and brilliant record that is defined by Björk’s world-straddling voice! I can imagine Björk’s eyes being opened to all the sounds coming from the radio and clubs in England before she wrote Post. If Björk’s soundscape would become a little more minimal and icier on future releases, Post is the opposite: a bubbling and joyous blend that still sounds completely intoxicating twenty-five years on! I do want to bring in a few articles, just to give you a sense of how the media perceives the album and why Post resonates. In their review, AllMusic had this to say:
“After Debut's success, the pressure was on Björk to surpass that album's creative, tantalizing electronic pop. She more than delivered with 1995's Post; from the menacing, industrial-tinged opener, "Army of Me," it's clear that this album is not simply Debut redux. The songs' production and arrangements -- especially those of the epic, modern fairy tale "Isobel" -- all aim for, and accomplish, more. Post also features Debut producer Nellee Hooper, 808 State's Graham Massey, Howie B, and Tricky, who help Björk incorporate a spectrum of electronic and orchestral styles into songs like "Hyperballad," which sounds like a love song penned by Aphex Twin. Meanwhile, the bristling beats on the volatile, sensual "Enjoy" and the fragile, weightless ballad "Possibly Maybe" nod to trip-hop without being overwhelmed by it. As on Debut, Björk finds new ways of expressing timeworn emotions like love, lust, and yearning in abstractly precise lyrics like "Since you went away/I'm wearing lipstick again/I suck my tongue in remembrance of you," from "Possibly Maybe."
But Post's emotional peaks and valleys are more extreme than Debut's. "I Miss You"'s exuberance is so animated, it makes perfect sense that Ren & Stimpy's John Kricfalusi directed the song's video. Likewise, "It's Oh So Quiet" -- which eventually led to Björk's award-winning turn as Selma in Dancer in the Dark -- is so cartoonishly vibrant, it could have been arranged by Warner Bros. musical director Carl Stalling. Yet Björk sounds equally comfortable with an understated string section on "You've Been Flirting Again." "Headphones" ends the album on an experimental, hypnotic note, layering Björk's vocals over and over till they circle each other atop a bubbling, minimal beat. The work of a constantly changing artist, Post proves that as Björk moves toward more ambitious, complex music, she always surpasses herself”.
I have a few favourite tracks from the album. I love the cover of It’s Oh So Quiet, as Björk makes it her own, and it is such a burst of sunlight and energy! Army of Me (co-written by Graham Massey) is this intense and stunning opener, and its Michel Gondry-directed video (the two collaborated a lot) added new layers to the song – the fact that Björk’s videos were as evocative and mesmeric as the songs helped make albums like Post so enduring and singular. I also love The Modern Things, Isobel and Possibly Maybe but, to be fair, every track is a winner!
I think the retrospective acclaim Post has received has pushed it into the hands of new listeners. Pitchfork wrote a review back in March, and they gave it a perfect ten:
“With Post, Björk set the bionic foundation for one of the most consequential careers in pop history. Here is where Björk became a perennial gateway drug, not to one sound but to the unknown, which is to say the future. She would soon leave London for the south of Spain and then New York, recording her two towering masterpieces—1997’s Homogenic, which Missy Elliott once gleefully likened to “Mozart at a rap show,” and the introverted microbeats of 2001’s Vespertine—crystallizing the totality of her vision. What other artist could successively collaborate with Wu-Tang Clan, interview Estonian minimalist legend Arvo Pärt, and appear on “MTV Unplugged” accompanied by a man playing a table of drinking glasses? In another era, maybe Bowie, which is just right—it was Bowie, after all, who inspired Björk’s immortal swan dress. By the end of the ’90s, the world would know the only answer: Björk”.
I do hope that Post gets a lot of celebration on its twenty-fifth anniversary, as it is one of the greatest albums ever, and one I felt that I had to celebrate and nod to. Post was an evolution for Björk, but one where she kept her personality and sound intact. On its twentieth anniversary, Stereogum wrote a fascinating article and underlined why Post was such a huge revelation:
“In a lot of ways, Post was the platonic ideal of a sophomore album. It had enough Debut-era dance-pop in it that it still sounded like the work of the same person, and those pop moments were strong enough to prove that Debut wasn’t a fluke. But the album also blew Björk’s previously-established sound out into something way, way bigger and more impressive. In its 11 tracks, it presented 11 completely different images of what Björk could do.
And it established Björk’s persona in ways that Debut simply couldn’t do. The videos were a big part of that. I can’t think of a single album that inspired a better set of music videos than Post. Björk was working with visionary-genius types like Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze when they were at their peak, and she was getting all their best ideas and still getting her own enormous personality across completely. The videos for “It’s Oh So Quiet” and “Hyper-Ballad” were the sort of things you’d be hoping to come across if you stayed up all night watching MTV, and when Jonze and Gondry released those Directors’ Label DVDs a few years later, they were some of the best reasons to buy the things. After Post, every single Björk album has focused hard one some particular idea, some shade of her sound. And that’s fine, since she proved with this one that she could do just about anything”.
I have been listening to Post a lot lately, and I have been blown away in new ways by the stunning songs and how much ground Björk covers through the eleven tracks! Post is so important, as there were not that many artists pushing chart and radio music to new place. There was so much safe and similar music in 1995; Post is hard to label and define, and Björk definitely changed the game and provided inspiration to artists at the time. Post continued to compel and influence past 1995, and it is clear the album has affected so many people and helped reshape music. As it turns twenty-five, I am still being dumbstruck and fascinated by…
SUCH a spellbinding album.