The Grand Old Kook Of Bjork
- 14 May 07, 01:09 PM
The two albums that interest me most this week feature a bloke dressed in lederhosen and a lady inside what looks like a giant bottle of Orangina. You΅―ve guessed it- it΅―s the return of Rufus Wainwright and Bjork, artists who like to act contrary and daft. Their appearance is especially welcome at a time of crummy conformity, when the Arctic Monkeys are being celebrated as rock΅―s young hope and when that Genesis reformation threatens to send scores of music lovers off the tops of high clifftops in despair.
Rufus was in stupendous form over the ΅®Want One΅― and ΅®Want Two΅― albums, and I was glad for the fella when he sang Judy Garland at the Carnegie Hall. We all have our dreams, eh? And while the new album, ΅®Release The Stars΅― isn΅―t immediately a wow, I fully expect it to reveal some glorious moments. Certainly the single ΅®Going To a Town΅― dares to critique America at a time when such slights can΅―t go down well.
Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys is an executive producer, and he surely approved of the operatic heights, the giddy parts and the chance to personally sashay into a few songs.
They say that Bjork is getting accessible again ¨C returning to the pop terrain of ΅®Debut΅― and ΅®Post΅―, but that΅―s really just a hopeful marketing line. Yes, she does warble with Antony Hegarty but the songs are vast and strange, and the Timbaland strokes are also a great challenge. Yet to hear the African strings and the declarations of independence and the lovely song about her son, well, it΅―s all perfectly right.
Let them wear their lederhosen and their bjonkers costumes. It goes with the tremendous territory.
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We need more of Bjork.
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