Björk

Björk's admirers and detractors—and she certainly inspires ardent opinions on both sides—can agree on her singularity as a songwriter and performer; she's so unique that she hardly has imitators. Yet even though she remains locked in her own madcap orbit, she often welcomes collaboration with other eccentric talents, and Volta, her sixth studio record, bears prominent and riveting stamps from two in particular: mega-producer Timbaland and Mercury Prize-winning singer Antony (minus the Johnsons).

Lead single "Earth Intruders" kicks off with a brisk marching beat that would be ripe for Missy or Gwen. Timbaland's other production, "Innocence," rides twitchy sci-fi synths and an "Unhh!" vocal loop that sounds like a video game character being punched in the gut. Björk, appropriately, counters with some of her liveliest vocals, working more in the lineage of Post than Medulla.

But any hopes for a colorful partytime album are dashed by some unfortunate meandering midway through, during a weak sequence of tracks in which Björk sings boldly but never grounds herself to a compelling melody. Volta—like her catalog at large—almost always merits admiration, but doesn't always provoke sheer enjoyment.

Volta's finest moments are pulled from opposite extremes. Her first duet with Antony, "The Dull Flame of Desire," showcases each singer's colossal emotional power, unfolding subtly against a persistent percussive heartbeat and a stately brass arrangement. "Declare Independence" dispenses with subtlety during its rousing climax, in which Björk shrieks and sloganeers while the electronic backdrop abrasively spirals out of control.

- Adam McKibbin
05.14.07

Once again finding harmony and creating alchemy between seeming opposites, on Volta Björk is bold but thoughtful, delicate yet strong, accessible and avant. The intricacy and complexity of projects like Medúlla and Drawing Restraint 9 suggested that she might have left the more direct side of her work behind, but Volta's opening track and lead single, "Earth Intruders," puts that notion to rest: the song literally marches in, riding a bubbling, ritualistic beat courtesy of Timbaland and Konono No. 1's electric thumb-pianos. Björk howls "Turmoil! Carnage!" like incantations over the din, and after several albums' worth of beautiful whispers, it's a joy to hear her raise her voice and volume like this. "Wanderlust" follows and provides the yin to "Earth Intruders"' yang, its horns and brooding melody giving it the feel of a moodier, more contemplative version of "The Anchor Song." These two songs set the tone for the rest of Volta's pendulum-like swings between sounds and moods, all of which are tied together by found-sound and brass-driven interludes that give the impression that the album was recorded in a harbor -- an apt metaphor for how ideas and collaborators come and go on this album. Timbaland's beats resurface on "Innocence," another of Volta's most potent moments; a sample of what sounds like a man getting punched in the gut underscores Björk's viewpoint that purity is something powerful, not gentle. Antony and the Johnsons' Antony Hegarty lends his velvety voice to two outstanding but very different love songs: "The Dull Flame of Desire" captures swooning romance by pairing Björk and Hegarty's voices with a slowly building tattoo courtesy of Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale; "My Juvenile," which is dedicated to Björk's son Sindri, closes Volta with a much gentler duet. Considering how much sonic and emotional territory the album spans -- from the brash, anthemic "Declare Independence," which sounds a bit like Homogenic's "Pluto," to "Pneumonia" and "Vertebrae by Vertebrae," which are as elliptical and gentle as anything on Vespertine or Drawing Restraint 9 -- Volta could very easily sound scattered, but this isn't the case. Instead, it finds the perfect balance between the vibrancy of her poppier work in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide