Since going through a painful breakup in 2013, Icelandic protean artist Björk has been going through a long period of suffering, which led to the release of her critically acclaimed release Vulnicura in 2015.
The epic and intimate breakup album was described as "an extreme project." At the time, Björk told Pitchfork : "It was the most painful thing I ever experienced in my life". Several years have passed and Björk has shared and documented her journey along the path of creative renaissance and personal rebirth.
Leaving the pain and suffering behind, she delivers a new album entitled Utopia. Her 9th studio effort is a deep and enriching experience that conveys hope and love as a message and as an answer to the suffering of our world. The captivating and touching record is an idealist manifesto for life and for a better future, a visceral reaction to the spreading of extreme and harmful ideologies in the US and Europe.
Like a defence mechanism that seeks to counteract these dark times and make utopia reality, Björk transformed herself into a defiant force, empowering and protecting the oppressed and the environment. This is reflected on the album art cover, where the singer is re-imagined once again, reincarnated as a mythical earthly-and-motherly witch-goddess who is seen brandishing a magical flute as a weapon, protecting and offering comfort to a frail hatchling bird nested in the nook of her neck. This is further explored in the song "Saint," where she sings "Music loves too Music heals too, I’m here to defend it" and in "Tabula Rasa" where she asserts "It is time : The world, it is listening."
Bjork is rising, taking off with her army of chirping birds who can be heard throughout the record, helping her spread her music like incantations that have the power of healing. The deep and enriching experience concludes with "Future Forever", a beautifully crafted song on which Björk exhales one last verse : "Hold fort for love, Forever."
