Björk Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Vespertine
V-Logo
Released August 27, 2001
(see release history)
Recorded 1999-2001
Length 0:55:33
Producers Björk
Thomas Kknak
Martin Gretschmann
Marius de Vries
Label
One Little Indian Records
discography
border 1px

(1997)

Vespertine

(2001)

Medulla

(2004)

From Vespertine
  1. "Hidden Place"
    Released: August 6, 2001
  2. "Pagan Poetry"
    Released: November 5, 2001
  3. "Cocoon"
    Released: March 11, 2002

Vespertine is the fifth studio album by Björk, released on August 27, 2001.

Background[]

"A word that helped me a lot making this record was "hibernation." Being internal is a form of hibernation, and I related it to winter, the sound of crystals in wintertime. That’s what I wanted this album to sound like."[1]

Björk started working on Vespertine during the filming of Dancer in the Dark, saying "Selmasongs was the day job and Vespertine was the hobby".[2] Initially under the working title Domestika, she set about making a record with a domestic mood featuring "everyday moods and everyday noises translating into melodies and beats."[3] She also expressed that after her previous album, Homogenic, she intended to make an album with a more "calm and intimate" sound, deviating from the sonority of her previous work.

The more intimate sound on the album is credited to her then-new relationship with Matthew Barney and the tension of filming Dancer in the Dark. As the process of filming demanded that she be extroverted, the new music she was creating became hushed and tranquil as a way to escape.

Björk on the album:[4]

After I’d done the album, I wrote my manifesto where I describe the character who did Vespertine and it’s a fictional character. I sent the same manifesto to all three video directors. Also what was common with all three was that for all three it was their first music video, even though they had a lot of experience in another field. And I think probably I was very collaborative with all three. Vespertine is an album made by a character who’s very introvert. And it’s about the universe inside every person. This time around, I wanted to make sure that the scenery of the songs is not like a mountain or a city or outside, it’s inside, so it’s very internal.

In a 2015 interview with The Pitchfork Review, Björk expressed frustration over to the lack of recognition for all of her work on Vespertine and her other albums:[5]

I did 80% of the beats on Vespertine and it took me three years to work on that album, because it was all microbeats – it was like doing a huge embroidery piece. Matmos came in the last two weeks and added percussion on top of the songs, but they didn't do any of the main parts, and they are credited everywhere as having done the whole album. [Matmos'] Drew [Daniel] is a close friend of mine, and in every single interview he did, he corrected it. And they don't even listen to him. It really is strange

Singles[]

Track listing[]

Original edition[]

All songs written and composed by Björk, except where noted. 

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Hidden Place"    5:28
2. "Cocoon"  Björk, Thomas Knak 4:28
3. "It's Not Up to You"    5:08
4. "Undo"  Björk, Knak 5:38
5. "Pagan Poetry"    5:14
6. "Frosti"    1:41
7. "Aurora"    4:39
8. "An Echo, A Stain"  Björk, Guy Sigsworth 4:04
9. "Sun in My Mouth"  Björk, Sigsworth 2:40
10. "Heirloom"  Björk, Martin Console 5:12
11. "Harm of Will"  Björk, Sigsworth, Harmony Korine 4:36
12. "Unison"    6:45
Total length:
55:29

Japanese Bonus Track[]

No. TitleWriter(s)Producer Length
13. "Generous Palmstroke"  Björk, Zeena ParkinsBjörk, de Vries 4:24
Total length:
59:37

Outtakes and B-sides[]

The songs listed below were recorded and written during the conception of Vespertine, but didn't make the cut on the album. Some ended up as a B-side on the album's singles or in other projects. Others remain unreleased as of today.

References[]

  1. Metromix.com, 2001
  2. "The Twilight World of Björk". NME. 11 August 2001.
  3. Pytlik 2003, p. 15
  4. "Press conference in Japan" (2001)
  5. Hopper, Jessica (21 April 2015). "The Invisible Woman: A Conversation with Björk". The Pitchfork Review.
  6. "Björk...versus reality". 1 May 2000. Dazed & Confused.
Advertisement