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Debut is the second studio album, and first major-label release by Björk, released on July 5, 1993.
Background[]
Björk debuted as a solo artist in 1977 with her eponymous album Björk, however it was not until the late 1980s when she truly began strongly working in the music industry. In 1988, The Sugarcubes (whom she was in the position of vocalist) released the single Birthday to critical and commercial acclaim, reaching number 65 on the UK Singles Chart[1]. The Sugarcubes slowly drifted apart after less critical and commercial acclaim with their album 'Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!' and, in 1992, released their third and final album 'Stick Around For Joy'. After this, Björk left Iceland for London and officially worked on what would become Debut.
Writing and production[]
Björk had already written countless songs for Debut, including the hit lead single Human Behaviour, however had not recorded any tracks. She first worked with the band Graham Massey from 808 Slate before being introduced to the main producer of Debut, Nellee Hooper.
Human Behaviour was written by Björk in her teen years, however she did not want to release it with The Sugarcubes as it had a completely different sound to the band[2]. The track is about the relationship of humans and animals[3] and includes several instruments from the timpani to synth riffs.
Venus As a Boy was written solely by Björk in her living room in Iceland, and was one of the last songs recorded for the album. The track is about a specific person (rumoured to be her former boyfriend Dominic Thrupp) whom she is protective of and sees everything with a beauty point of view[4].
Play Dead, the only song added to the reissue, was written after Debut and is based on the main character of the film 'The Young Americans' as she wrote the track after seeing the film. Björk states, "It was actually fun because the character in the film was suffering and going through hardcore tough times and at the time I was at my happiest. It was quite liberating to sit down after writing a whole album to write from someone else's point of view."[5]
Big Time Sensuality was composed by main producer Nellee Hooper and is a house track about several aspects of her life at the time. Björk noted during an interview with David Hemingway, "A lot of my songs - including 'Big Time Sensuality' - are about my friends, not my lovers. It's not erotic or sensual even if it may sound like that. As you know, you create pretty deep, full-on love relationships with friends. A lot of it is also about myself. I can be a coward a lot of the time and there comes a moment when I write a song when I get quite brave."[6]
The Anchor Song, the final song of the standard album, was produced and written solely by Björk. It includes saxophone contributions from Oliver Lake.
Singles[]
(1993)
(1993)
(1993)
(1993)
(1994)
Track list and release history[]
- Main article: List of international editions of Debut.
Original edition (1993)[]
- This version was released in the United Kingdom in July 1993.
| Original edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Human Behaviour" | 4:12 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Crying" | 4:49 | ||||||||
| 3. | "Venus as a Boy" | 4:41 | ||||||||
| 4. | "There's More to Life Than This" (Recorded live at the Milk Bar toilets) | 3:21 | ||||||||
| 5. | "Like Someone in Love" | 4:33 | ||||||||
| 6. | "Big Time Sensuality" | 3:56 | ||||||||
| 7. | "One Day" | 5:24 | ||||||||
| 8. | "Aeroplane" | 3:54 | ||||||||
| 9. | "Come to Me" | 4:55 | ||||||||
| 10. | "Violently Happy" | 4:58 | ||||||||
| 11. | "The Anchor Song" | 3:32 | ||||||||
Japanese Bonus Track[]
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Atlantic" | 1:59 |
Second edition (1993)[]
In November 1993, after an unexpected success of the album, the second edition was released, including the bonus track "Play Dead" and a 12-page picture book of Björk and the lyrics of the tracks.
| Second edition | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Human Behaviour" | 4:12 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Crying" | 4:49 | ||||||||
| 3. | "Venus as a Boy" | 4:41 | ||||||||
| 4. | "There's More to Life Than This" (Recorded live at the Milk Bar toilets) | 3:21 | ||||||||
| 5. | "Like Someone in Love" | 4:33 | ||||||||
| 6. | "Big Time Sensuality" | 3:56 | ||||||||
| 7. | "One Day" | 5:24 | ||||||||
| 8. | "Aeroplane" | 3:54 | ||||||||
| 9. | "Come to Me" | 4:55 | ||||||||
| 10. | "Violently Happy" | 4:58 | ||||||||
| 11. | "The Anchor Song" | 3:32 | ||||||||
| 12. | "Play Dead" | 3:56 | ||||||||
Japanese Bonus Tracks[]
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Atlantic" | 1:56 | |
| 13. | "Play Dead" | 3:45 |
- ↑ https://www.officialcharts.com/search/singles/birthday/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110514211242/http://unit.bjork.com/specials/albums/debut/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110514211451/http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/SUB-03/index.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120317080709/http://home.swipnet.se/~w-10797/bjork/lyr-ven.htm
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110514211242/http://unit.bjork.com/specials/albums/debut/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120716224449/http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/SUB-08/index.htm