Music Review // Björk – Vulnicura Strings
If the original release of
Vulnicura wasn’t heartbreaking enough then this companion volume of acoustic
versions of the tracks, resequenced and recomposed using alternative takes of
the string sessions is even more so. But as much as that sometimes felt like an
intrusion into someone’s private emotions, Strings feels much more intimate yet
much more accessible.
The first thing that
strikes the listener is that stripped of the electronic elements that made the
originals sometimes overwrought they shine brighter in this light. The beauty
of the more intimate mix of just strings and voice is testament just how much
instrumentation Björk actually works with. If you’ve ever caught any of her
live work you will know she has an impressive live voice and when you strip
away the layers of instrumentation and production effects that voice still
stands up for itself.
It’s most evident on the
songs that were more soaked in additional elements such as Stonemilker, which
is just as emotional stripped down as it is in full production. As lines such
as the quite remarkable ‘show me emotional respect/ I have emotional needs’, (Themselves
extremely raw expressions of an emotional state we never really want to face up
to) go by the acoustic mix makes this almost like a torch song in the vein of
Piaf.
In fact, Vulnicura is an
album that is rather like being in someone’s emotional breakdown and learning
rather a lot from the experience. The stripped down versions here bring greater
clarity to the raw and uncomfortable (but still undeniably beautiful) listening
therapy that the original album. The ten minute epic Black Lake takes on a new
life in strings form, making it in many ways an easier listen than the original
with the simplicity of the string arrangements and vocals making it so much
more than just a song.
Perhaps most telling of
this more emotional period of the artist’s catalog is the cover art, with an
oval slit cut, almost scar like, into the casing of the physical edition. This new
iteration of the album is laying down the cards of an emotional detachment on
the table for all to hear and whilst it should be an uncomfortable experience
and undeniably is in many ways, this makes the music so much more than just
music. Of the two editions of Vulnicura, Strings perhaps comes off as the most
authentic. The original is cocooned in intimate production touches and works
well but on Strings we get a chance to take in the words more clearly and
really get down to the heart of the matter.
(S.Gahan.)
