reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Bjork - Volta

Bjork claimed she wanted to have fun with this album after such a serious array of discography; however, this does not compromise the same unparalleled space of noise she manages to organize and sew her impeccable voice over.   Percussive and brass elements dominate this album, and pieces like “Wanderlust” and “Hope” are the perfect concoction of such.  She collaborated with Timbaland on “Innocence,” and it is reminiscent to the hip-hop remix of “I Miss you” on Telegram (1997).  “Declare Independence” is a piece of minimalism and austere electronic manipulations that allude to the military march in “Army of Me”(1995).  Bjork screams, “Declare independence.  Don’t let them do that to you.  Raise your flag higher, higher.  Damn colonists.  Ignore their patronizing.  Tear off their blindfold.”  Even in the midst of a pacifying album, Bjork manages to throw in monstrous lividness.   In beautiful contrast, there is a Vespertine-esque quality to be appreciated in “I See Who You Are," with the addition of an old Chinese instrument called the "pipa."  Bjork and brass echo together across each utterance and re-introduce a soft intensity. – Crystal Farina