14. Björk- Vulnicura
Björk's Vulnicura has been hailed as her best album since Vespertine by many fans and critics. I'm not sure about that, but it is no doubt a great listen. Stemming from a more 'human' place than her most recent outputs (see Biophilia's album concept), this album centers around her breakup and recovery with artist Matthew Barney. That makes it instantly more grounded and easy to approach for most people, with that element of personal storytelling, it's her most relatable album on thematic level in years. The compositions here are far easier to take in too, there's no strange time signatures or high experimentation- it's more or less the most 'pop' Björk is going to get. And it works just fine given the concept. The production is impeccable, Arca and The Haxan Cloak do amazing jobs respectively. The string work is amazing. Björk's vocals are pained but beautiful and the lyrics are haunting.
The songs are quite lengthy, with a lot of them clocking in at over 6 minutes. The centerpiece and most amazing track (in my opinion) is the 10 minute epic (and also lead single) "Black Lake". It leaves you emotionally wiped out and blown away. Other highlights for me were "Mouth Mantra", opener "Stonemilker" and creepy "Notget". Due to the deep nature of the album, it also means that it is something you really need to be in the mood for. It's not an easy listen by any means, and you really need to sit down and
pay fucking attention. Not something I listened to HEAPS but definitely something I highly respect and well deserving of being on my top 20 this year.
Check it out if you haven't already!