In 1993, the album “Debut” launched the Icelandic singer Björk’s career with a bang, selling two and a half million copies worldwide. Its combination of sensuous, jazz-fusion-influenced arrangements and joyous dance beats appealed to both the younger club set and 30something professionals.
Instead of consolidating her audience with a play-safe sequel, she has followed her most wonderfully wayward impulses. As she warbles in “Cover Me,” her puckish voice tangled amid harpsichord and birdcalls, “I’m going hunting for mysteries.”
“Post” is a futuristic record, teeming with stark electronic instrumentation and plangent, unresolved melodies. “Army of Me” is so menacing and inorganic-sounding it verges on industrial rock.
But with Björk, mischief and melody are always just around the corner. The album is punctuated with small delights like the lovely orchestral interlude “You’ve Been Flirting Again” and the full-blown big- band treatment of the Betty Hutton hit “Blow a Fuse,” complete with Björk’s awesome yelps.
Despite such occasional flirtations with conventional song styles, most of this album is eccentric and eerie. After the accessibility of “Debut,” “Post” is a brave leap forward that bodes well for Björk’s future as an artist—if not necessarily for her bank balance.
