P.S. I’m gonna be honest, this album took me A WHILE to really enjoy. Thematically and lyrically a masterpiece, but the long song lengths and (at times) jarring production choices took me out of vibing well with the project overall. Though not my fave of her albums, now it’s a solid, somber piece of work that I can enjoy casually. Excited for Utopia to come next whenever 😙👏🏽 Thank you for the vid, and hope you’re doing well wherever you are!! 😘😘😘
Just for the record: from Stonemilker to Notget is about the process of Björk dealing with the divorce before and after the breaking point. And from Atom Dance to Quicksand are more about the healing and setting the tone for the next stage of healing and for the next album that is Utopia! The last songs will definitely grow on you! I’m so happy that you reacted to her best album! 💖
Came here to say this exact thing! I couldn't have said it better myself. Basically this was the album of her total emotional apocalypse and processing through the trauma. It is worth knowing that the next album, Utopia, is not only about healing, but it is also about post-healing - like what is it like to move forward via healing and create a new beautiful vision for the world? I look forward to hearing your reaction to Utopia, and I think a little context really helps it make sense. That vulva shaped gash on the cover of Vulnicura will heal and turn into a similarly-shaped "gate" that is her portal into the universe of healing in the next album.
when you're done reacting to her albums, you should check out her videography! she's always been so visual with her art, it really adds to the björk experience :)
Vulnicura why most of it sounded so devastating is because this is her heartbreak album. She just broke up with Matthew Barney after being together for many years. They had a child together and that's why themes of family and togetherness are also evident in some songs. Vulnicura essentially is a timeline to how this whole breakup happened. "Vulnicura is a song cycle divided into three even parts: pre-heartbreak, post-heartbreak, and that hard-won moment when you finally stop defining yourself based on where you are on the heartbreak curve." Stonemilker, Lionsong, and History of Touches tackle themes of remembering the good times and the denial that their relationship is falling out. There's nothing that she could do anymore though. Black Lake, Family, and Notget are definitely is when everything went south. The anger and resentment that she has for Matthew having broken up their relationship and family. Essentially dissing him about ruining their history and their future. She is mourning the loss of their triangle. Father, mother, child. Atom Dance, Mouth Mantra, and Quicksand explores how she is coping up after the breakup. That even though she is struggling, she is still keeping it together for her daughter. And her daughter's daughters. The last song is dedicated to her mother. Having sacrificed things for her before and that now she's also the mother of her own child. Doing the sacrifice.
"divorce baby, divorce" this album is about her feelings before and after her break up with her husband and the healing process (vulnicura=cure for wounds) so she wrote the songs throughout the process. according to the physical version of the album: vulnicura: 9 months before lionsong: 5 months before history of touches: 3 months before black lake: 2 months after family: 6 months after notget: 11 months after
@@bennshouts Yeah - it is breathtaking to follow her growth as a composer and arranger for strings: Debut - she completely outsourced all the string arrangements to a producer in Bollywood, including the recording. Post - She oversaw the strings more in general, but just did the arrangement for "You've Been Flirting Again" Homogenic - Epic strings - but she acted more as the musical director for the string arrangements and had legendary string arranger Emuir Deodato do the arrangements. ((fast forward as each album, she takes more and more control of the arrangements . . . she even rented a harp for Vespertine and played until she had blisters on her fingers before reaching out to legendary harpist Zeena Perkins to polish the harp arrangements)) Vulnicura - She did the strings 100% completely by herself. A true masterpiece and a statement to her mastery and prowess as a composer. Absolutely amazing string arrangements. She released a strings only version of Vulnicura - you should give it a listen. It is gorgeous.
So the symbol on Björk’s chest is supposed to resemble a wound, to represent the pain and emotions she’s letting out from the heartbreak. I kinda also remember reading somewhere her look in the coverart was supposedly inspired by spiders. Which I sonically get when listening to the instrumentation of Notget. Sounds like cribbly-crawling spiders doing a mating dance. So glad you gave this album a listen! It’s probably my second fave album from Björk because of the gorgeous string arrangement 💖
I had the chance to work on the VR digital show of vulnicura that travels around the world. I was a museum guide. Also had the chance to live the "behind doors" experience and Black Lake was my favorite room (each song is a different inmersive experience). In black lake we addapted a room in full black, cause the song was recorded at a cave. You entered "the cave" and there was 50 speakers that surrounded the walls. Each speaker played a different channel of the console music so its basically a 360 sound experience as you walk and see the video projected at the walls. ((( I also had the chance to personally meet her and hug her and laugh with her and it was the best experience of my life :P ))))
When I was going through a breakup I was avoiding this album for the longest time. Then when I finally tried to listen to it again I cried the moment Stonemilker started playing. The album is just too powerful. That being said an amazing reaction as always!
This whole album is actually the closest thing she’s done to a “concept” album about her breakup with her partner of 15 years (who Vespertine was also about) The lyrics to pretty much every song thru Notget relate to that; but the last three are more general songs abt healing!! Stonemilker is still hopeful and about her issues with her ex and asking for emotional clarity and all that Lionsong is her facing that the relationship really is over and kind of a sarcastic/avoidant “I’m not too bothered” (which isn’t true and is supposed to be kind of funny) History of touches is about her being in bed telling him she loves him, knowing it’s their last time together Black Lake is directly after the breakup and the horrible feelings coming out Family is the first glimpse of hope in the second half after she mounts her family Notget is about her daughter and her facing death and trying to not regret everything that’s happened Atom Dance is about her finding connections with people again but kinda more abstract Mouth Mantra is about her vocal surgery in 2013 where she couldn’t talk or sing for two weeks but also a metaphor for how she felt silenced in her relationship Quicksand is about her moms heart attack but also this bigger idea of finding peace in the journey of being broken, passing things into her daughter (when I’m broken I am whole) and kind of wraps up everything, I think it ends so abruptly to show there isn’t an exact point of her being totally healed and how she doesn’t have much control over this situation This album has slowly grown into my top three of hers, mostly by the last songs growing on me but they are definitely some of her most abstract songs. Every song deals with loss in some way - also vulnicura pretty much transaltes to "A Cure for Wounds" in Latin. Sorry this was soooo long lol but thought I’d give a general explanation of the songs haha
Björk has always been a collaborator. Before Arca, she worked with Mark Bell on her albums. In recent years, she has just been a little more direct with the collaborations.
Hey Ben! I always felt the best way to listen to this album is to follow along with the album linear notes. It really does play out like one dreary sad break up. The first 5 songs each detailing a different phase of her break up, noted by the months before and after the initial break up. A truly heart shattering album, anyone that has experiences true heart break and loss of the family can relate. Also mouth mantra was about her vocal cord surgery, they found nodules on them and they had to remove them scars. With the last song “quicksand” is kind of a message for her daughter almost like finding light of the very dark bleak black lake 2014-2015 was obviously a hard time for her
oh god… black lake and stonemilker fucked me upppppp, so happy ur finally reacting to this, i feel you really have to feel her heartbreak on this album to understand why she made her next album utopia as a healing record. also utopia has its own “black lake” called “body memory” also 10 min
@@bennshouts I just heard her perform "Body Memory" in San Francisco a couple weeks ago --- it was EPIC, and absolutely amazing when performed live... A very epic song. It is basically like her revisiting Black Lake, only from a healed place. From songfacts: "Body Memory" is about how your body can get you through trauma when your mind and emotions are all screwed up. It represents Bjork's determination to enjoy life rather than wallow in her grief. She explained to Pitchfork: "'Black Lake' on Vulnicura was the darkest and saddest I've ever gone. 'Body Memory' is a reply to that. It is my manifesto. My subconscious was like, 'OK, I'll let you write the saddest song ever for 10 minutes if you then write something to counter that.' And then this song came out all in one go. Each verse is about big things in life: destiny, love, sex. It's a bit big-headed. It's about, 'OK, how am I going to live the second half of my life?' It's a new territory, a door that's opened."
History of Touches gets me every time. So relatable, that last time it happens when you know you're about to fall apart as a couple. Such a rough emotion to process.
Its fascinating how readily, easily & nattirally you hear the comedy in her music. I've been a serious listener for 30 years & I've only just detected these kuckoo nuances. Your sensitivities are so perceptive!!
vulnicura is absolutely bjork’s best out of her later work!! it’s classic 🤩 alsooo you should totally check out ‘once twice melody’ by beach house!! it just came out friday and it’s so good and spacey and it would be an excellent intro to the rest of their work!! love your channel
I love your Björk reactions so much it's part of the reason why I'm subscribed. Can't wait for you to listen to Utopia. It's like the opposite of Vulnicura.
for this album bjork did all the strings and arrangements lyrics done and then later she asked arca and haxen cloak come in for the finishing touches. the next album its more of an bjorkXArca collab album, they started the album together from the beginning
The person who was on the Atom Dance Duet was the brilliant Anohni She previously featured on Dull Flame of Desire and My Juvinle all the way back on Volta (although she is unfortunately Miscredited with her dead name)
@@babybop9817rabit worked on utopia not vulnicura on the song loss, another great producer worked on a song on vulnicura (family) along with björk and arca the haxan cloak
omg, you did the reaction, I'm happy. I guess you enjoy strings as much as me so you need to listen the version of this album but only with strings, it's sooo good. And another recommendation, I would like you to react to the discography of Sopor Aeternus and the Ensemble Of Shadows, their music is INCREDIBLE and the storyline expressed in the lyrics are dope. You could start with "Les Fleurs du Mal". Ow, and I want to mention that the person who sings in 'Atom Dance' is ANOHNI, the same who sings with Björk in "The Dull Flame Of Desire". And according to Genius, Atom dance is about healing and being open, and may be referencing to the concept of quantum entanglement, AKA "spooky attachment at a distance", where even two particles at great distance are still connected and impacting eachother. You spin one particle clockwise, the other will spin counterclockwise in tandem, even when they are separated. Björk is expressing this concept in terms of her many relationships, with her friends and lovers, where even though they are separated, they are forever joined in an Atom dance, always influencing each other. Uff, and for Black Lake, Genius says: «During an interview for Grapevine.is she clarified why the song is so long. “It's like, when you're trying to express something and you sort of start, but then nothing comes out. You can maybe utter five words and then you're just stuck in the pain. And the chords in-between, they sort of represent that. […] We called them "the freezes", these moments between the verses. They're longer than the verses, actually. It's just that one emotion when you're stuck. It is hard, but it's also the only way to escape the pain, just going back and having another go, trying to make another verse». ily
Vulnicura it's the first Björk album i've heard(in 2015) and i liked. But i heard again 6 years after and i LOVED IT. It's a masterpiece. The next is Utopia. You NEED to watch The Gate's music video to understand the meaning of the sounds. Utopia's music video it's so beautiful. I feel everything with this album. But Vulnicura it's definitely one of my top 3 Björk albums(with Medúlla and Vespertine).
People on average stop listening to new music aged 33 (according to Spotify data - i won't die on this hill, I'm perfectly ok with all the old people listening to new music), and I'd imagine the majority of people into music reactions are skewing a little older than that. And it's not like Bjork is about giving you a comfortable pop record every few years, many of her fans will continue to insist she peaked between Debut/Post (insane) and Homogenic/Vespertine (understandable.) I was one of them, it took me so long to warm up to Medulla but I adore it now, and much of her recent work. But yeah, it does not surprise me the viewing figures go down! I wonder, really, if it's easier to love Medulla now, knowing Bjork as a well established and mature Artist, rather than a youthful disco queen who was often genuinely a pop star, with all the shallow admiration and limitations that brought
@@eleanor4759 I don't think it is! it's a huuuuge generalisation, and it can't take into account things like: when i was 20 I would listen constantly with very little concern about quality but a LOT of concern about what was cool, and didn't really pay any care about what other people thought was important music. I used music to block things out, to make journeys short and forgettable, it was background noise while I studied, it was an ambient hum to get me to sleep. Now I listen to much less, but with more care and attention. I'm not saying it's wrong to use music as a tool and constant companion (and god knows it's used so exploitatively as such in advertising and media), just that I am much more suspicious of what I used to think "meant something," lol
This album from the 2015 era is a masterpiece and it's one of my 3 favorite albums of hers next to Homogenic and Vespertine. But I also love her musical Selma songs from the amazing film Dancer in the Dark.
I HIGHLY recommend listening to the strings version of mouth mantra or a live performance bc it’s way more tragic and gripping. It is probably my favorite song of hers, but I find that I listen to the stripped down version with just the orchestra way more often than the studio version. She has a acoustic version of this album called Vulnicura Strings! I genuinely think you would enjoy it!🥰🥰🥰
I love Mouth Mantra. In my opinion it definitely captures how it would be losing your voice as a singer and getting vocal cords surgery, knowing that you will lose range in the process. I recommend watching the music videos 👌💯
I tend to agree with you, the first half of the album is some of her best stuff ever, the second is less my vibe, Atom Dance ended up growing on me though. But I mean... the first five alone bumps this album up really high in my Björk album ranking.
I think most people don't love the last 4 songs right away. It took me a while to come to love songs like Mouth Mantra and Notget. The first 5 songs are all directly part of the same story, the before and after of her divorce. Then Notget and Atom Dance both talk about feeling safe and finding happiness again after that love was lost. The last 2 don't talk about the divorce at all, they just add on to the story of the hard time that she had while she was also going through that divorce. Mouth Mantra is about several years of having a polyp on her vocal cords which eventually led her to go through a vocal surgery, and how she couldn't speak after it. And Quicksand is about when her mother was in a coma for a week following a heart attack.
I’m in that case . I don’t like the music after family. I don’t know. Just the music who are complicated to Listen. For me the best of vulnicura , history of touch and family .o forgot to say. I am French. So when an artist sing in English , I don’t understand the lyrics. So when I don’t like a song , I just talk about « harmony » . I really don’t like utopia. No harmony . A lot of instrument mixed together. No sens no logic no linear beats etc…
I am probably weird bc Mouth Mantra and Quicksand were instantly two of my favourites ;-) right now I'd say Stonemilker/Family/Mouth Mantra is the strongest trio on the album, all career-high tracks for me
As a lot of people write here, Vulnicura is her break-up album with her ex-husband (her inspiration in Vespertine), tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 are specifically about the breakup, Atom Dance could be a Biophilia reject (for the lyrics and the same person who co-write "Thunderbolt" has credits on this song too), Mouth Mantra is about her voice (she had problems with it since Volta tour) and Quicksand is about her mother (I thought you'll love Quicksand haha, I wasn't correct) Actually their last albums are their less-popular on her discography because are so experimental and polarizing so it's normal that your reactions for her last albums if these views are low, people want Debut or Post 2.0 but in this moment we all know she won't do an pop-ish album like her first ones. Finally, her last album "Utopia" is 50% Bjork and 50% Arca and for me is the most polarizing album, so I hope you'll love it, basically Utopia is opposite to Vulnicura and more experimental. Thank you for your reaction! Remember Bjork will release album this year too!
I agree with you but thought I might point out, Vulnicura and Utopia were critically received better than Medulla, Vola, And Biophilia (although Medulla is now seen as one of her best)
You have to watch Mouth Mantra video: ua-cam.com/video/pNY5ezdmLck/v-deo.html they 3D printed her mouth x300 and put a 360° camera in it to film it, she had voice issues few years prior, this song is about that, it’s my fav on the record so it’s interesting to see that you didn’t like it
@@mirroredheart7292 in terms of songwriting, Black Lake sounds like the least daring one of the bunch to me. For the same reason, Stonemilker is also not one of my favourite. I'm an adventurous man, I enjoy venturing into more daring compositions. But still, I do love Black Lake, it's an incredibly honest song.
@@bennshouts this album is my heart, one of the best albums i ever listened to. I spend years stucked into this masterpiece. So its personal hahah Family still devastates me. But Homogenic and vespertine top3 with vulnicura
I don't know how you decide to react 4 an album, but if you react to " Adoro Bolos by Conan Osiris " it would be a dream come true for me. He's from Portugal, he produces his own shit and It's an interesting album.
U should check out trans siberian orchestra, they r a group that does heavy metal, rock versions of christmas songs, as well as their own christmas music
duuude how dare you dislike Mouth Mantra!!!! no srsly I get it bc it's the most difficult and challenging track on the album... ...BUT it's a masterpiece and I will not accept any slander against it :-) also this is live version is unbelievable ua-cam.com/video/29-nbNlFvEo/v-deo.html
Oh my god ^^ finally. Reaction to vulnicura ^^ let’s go. Headphones. A coffee. On the sofa with a plaid. Let’s go :) Ok done ^^ yes yes yes very good reaction. When you talk about black lack, I was like hey man ^^ you are not ready for family and the awesome atmospheric outro (drone effect) I have cry the first time I listen this song :) thank you so much for this reaction .have a good day :) just for fun, a gift , my favorite when I drive on the free way : ua-cam.com/video/JrhtJJFevBM/v-deo.html
I listened to this twice, and likely never will again. I understand she was grieving, but the lack of melody just makes this, as she intended, one long, brutal open wound that's not even something I could listen or relate to in my darkest days (and she wouldn't have survived a day of my darkest days I had to as a child, so when people go on about cheating like it's the end of the world, my eyes roll). The technical ability is there, she's an amazing musician, but I'm sorry, the production is overbearing and monotonous, and stifles the life out of what likely could have been a masterpiece. If a song is going to be closer to 10 than 5 minutes, it has to be interesting as well. Nothing captures your attention, not even her singing. Utopia is miles better, there was still a couple of songs that should have been on this one instead that I edit out when listening to it, but I was worried that this was going to be a standard for her going forward, like Tori Amos' run of bad habits in production starting with the abysmal "Unrepentant Geraldines" album.
This albums all about her breakup with Matthew barney. Also her 1st album with arca (who I really don't like and feel he's destroying her style) tbh I find this album very boring and the one after imo is awful. Once you're done with bjork you should listen to the sugarcubes. Far less pretentious than she is now and their live shows were even better.
Björk’s never been the sole creator of everything she’s done, she’s the main creative force but she’s always had people co-produce with her so this issue you have with her collaborating with another producer doesn’t really make sense 😅
Just like Stonemilker embraces on dark feelings, so does mine. This song just made me cry because I knew the "emotional respect" and "mutual coordinates" and "syncronize our feelings" was never there when i needed it most. And this is why this is favorite Bjork song, because it gets me alot.
🌼😢💔~TIMESTAMPS~❤️🩹😮💨⛈
Stonemilker - 1:07🌟
Lionsong - 3:56
History of Touches - 7:11🌟
Black Lake - 8:25🌟
Family - 13:19
Notget - 16:43🌟
Atom Dance - 19:03
Mouth Mantra - 21:47
Quicksand - 24:01🌟
🌟= my fave!
P.S. I’m gonna be honest, this album took me A WHILE to really enjoy. Thematically and lyrically a masterpiece, but the long song lengths and (at times) jarring production choices took me out of vibing well with the project overall. Though not my fave of her albums, now it’s a solid, somber piece of work that I can enjoy casually. Excited for Utopia to come next whenever 😙👏🏽
Thank you for the vid, and hope you’re doing well wherever you are!! 😘😘😘
I love you
@@ec2032 ❣️😘❣️
You know what? Literally my favs are all without the stars :D & it took me a while, too! Lionsong is my favfavfav
Family no star…. 💔💔💔
"Hello I'm Ben and I'm happy" not for long...
Hahahaha accurate
LMAO
Oh honey, not for long
WHITE LIGHT FROM THE MOUTH OF INFINITY
Just for the record: from Stonemilker to Notget is about the process of Björk dealing with the divorce before and after the breaking point. And from Atom Dance to Quicksand are more about the healing and setting the tone for the next stage of healing and for the next album that is Utopia! The last songs will definitely grow on you! I’m so happy that you reacted to her best album! 💖
Came here to say this exact thing! I couldn't have said it better myself.
Basically this was the album of her total emotional apocalypse and processing through the trauma. It is worth knowing that the next album, Utopia, is not only about healing, but it is also about post-healing - like what is it like to move forward via healing and create a new beautiful vision for the world? I look forward to hearing your reaction to Utopia, and I think a little context really helps it make sense.
That vulva shaped gash on the cover of Vulnicura will heal and turn into a similarly-shaped "gate" that is her portal into the universe of healing in the next album.
💕💕💕💕
when you're done reacting to her albums, you should check out her videography! she's always been so visual with her art, it really adds to the björk experience :)
Yes please!
YES! 100% true
Yesss I gotta!
dani estas enamorada de benn
Vulnicura why most of it sounded so devastating is because this is her heartbreak album. She just broke up with Matthew Barney after being together for many years. They had a child together and that's why themes of family and togetherness are also evident in some songs. Vulnicura essentially is a timeline to how this whole breakup happened.
"Vulnicura is a song cycle divided into three even parts: pre-heartbreak, post-heartbreak, and that hard-won moment when you finally stop defining yourself based on where you are on the heartbreak curve."
Stonemilker, Lionsong, and History of Touches tackle themes of remembering the good times and the denial that their relationship is falling out. There's nothing that she could do anymore though.
Black Lake, Family, and Notget are definitely is when everything went south. The anger and resentment that she has for Matthew having broken up their relationship and family. Essentially dissing him about ruining their history and their future. She is mourning the loss of their triangle. Father, mother, child.
Atom Dance, Mouth Mantra, and Quicksand explores how she is coping up after the breakup. That even though she is struggling, she is still keeping it together for her daughter. And her daughter's daughters. The last song is dedicated to her mother. Having sacrificed things for her before and that now she's also the mother of her own child. Doing the sacrifice.
Love love love reading this! 💖
"divorce baby, divorce" this album is about her feelings before and after her break up with her husband and the healing process (vulnicura=cure for wounds) so she wrote the songs throughout the process. according to the physical version of the album:
vulnicura: 9 months before
lionsong: 5 months before
history of touches: 3 months before
black lake: 2 months after
family: 6 months after
notget: 11 months after
Love that you quoted Adele there, lol
Damn! That timeline tho 🤯🤯
Btw,she wrote the strings on the album. Which is so impressive.
My fave will always be Atom Dance.
GOD LOVE HER STRING WORK!!!
@@bennshouts Yeah - it is breathtaking to follow her growth as a composer and arranger for strings:
Debut - she completely outsourced all the string arrangements to a producer in Bollywood, including the recording.
Post - She oversaw the strings more in general, but just did the arrangement for "You've Been Flirting Again"
Homogenic - Epic strings - but she acted more as the musical director for the string arrangements and had legendary string arranger Emuir Deodato do the arrangements.
((fast forward as each album, she takes more and more control of the arrangements . . . she even rented a harp for Vespertine and played until she had blisters on her fingers before reaching out to legendary harpist Zeena Perkins to polish the harp arrangements))
Vulnicura - She did the strings 100% completely by herself. A true masterpiece and a statement to her mastery and prowess as a composer. Absolutely amazing string arrangements.
She released a strings only version of Vulnicura - you should give it a listen. It is gorgeous.
So the symbol on Björk’s chest is supposed to resemble a wound, to represent the pain and emotions she’s letting out from the heartbreak. I kinda also remember reading somewhere her look in the coverart was supposedly inspired by spiders. Which I sonically get when listening to the instrumentation of Notget. Sounds like cribbly-crawling spiders doing a mating dance. So glad you gave this album a listen! It’s probably my second fave album from Björk because of the gorgeous string arrangement 💖
Family is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.
I can listen the outro of family again again , max level for the sub woofer ^^ hypnotic atmospheric.
Yes!! It’s my favorite Björk song, it’s so powerful the song lives outside of herself✨
I had the chance to work on the VR digital show of vulnicura that travels around the world. I was a museum guide. Also had the chance to live the "behind doors" experience and Black Lake was my favorite room (each song is a different inmersive experience). In black lake we addapted a room in full black, cause the song was recorded at a cave. You entered "the cave" and there was 50 speakers that surrounded the walls. Each speaker played a different channel of the console music so its basically a 360 sound experience as you walk and see the video projected at the walls. ((( I also had the chance to personally meet her and hug her and laugh with her and it was the best experience of my life :P ))))
Omg… that sounds INCREDIBLE!!!!!
When I was going through a breakup I was avoiding this album for the longest time. Then when I finally tried to listen to it again I cried the moment Stonemilker started playing. The album is just too powerful.
That being said an amazing reaction as always!
we all cried at Stonemilker, god tier opener
Thank you!!!
History of touches was so personal omg...
This was the one I was waiting for the most, tyy!
🧡🧡🧡
This whole album is actually the closest thing she’s done to a “concept” album about her breakup with her partner of 15 years (who Vespertine was also about) The lyrics to pretty much every song thru Notget relate to that; but the last three are more general songs abt healing!!
Stonemilker is still hopeful and about her issues with her ex and asking for emotional clarity and all that
Lionsong is her facing that the relationship really is over and kind of a sarcastic/avoidant “I’m not too bothered” (which isn’t true and is supposed to be kind of funny)
History of touches is about her being in bed telling him she loves him, knowing it’s their last time together
Black Lake is directly after the breakup and the horrible feelings coming out
Family is the first glimpse of hope in the second half after she mounts her family
Notget is about her daughter and her facing death and trying to not regret everything that’s happened
Atom Dance is about her finding connections with people again but kinda more abstract
Mouth Mantra is about her vocal surgery in 2013 where she couldn’t talk or sing for two weeks but also a metaphor for how she felt silenced in her relationship
Quicksand is about her moms heart attack but also this bigger idea of finding peace in the journey of being broken, passing things into her daughter (when I’m broken I am whole) and kind of wraps up everything, I think it ends so abruptly to show there isn’t an exact point of her being totally healed and how she doesn’t have much control over this situation
This album has slowly grown into my top three of hers, mostly by the last songs growing on me but they are definitely some of her most abstract songs. Every song deals with loss in some way - also vulnicura pretty much transaltes to "A Cure for Wounds" in Latin. Sorry this was soooo long lol but thought I’d give a general explanation of the songs haha
Love this! Thank you!! 💝💝💝
OMG -- this comment is so >>ON POINT
the last four are strong growers, mouth mantra becomes everyone's fave after a while, and the live version is really sick
YES! Try to find the mouth mantra performance in rome with the fireworks, it's insane!!!
Björk has always been a collaborator. Before Arca, she worked with Mark Bell on her albums. In recent years, she has just been a little more direct with the collaborations.
Hey Ben! I always felt the best way to listen to this album is to follow along with the album linear notes. It really does play out like one dreary sad break up. The first 5 songs each detailing a different phase of her break up, noted by the months before and after the initial break up. A truly heart shattering album, anyone that has experiences true heart break and loss of the family can relate.
Also mouth mantra was about her vocal cord surgery, they found nodules on them and they had to remove them scars.
With the last song “quicksand” is kind of a message for her daughter almost like finding light of the very dark bleak black lake
2014-2015 was obviously a hard time for her
Thank you!!
oh god… black lake and stonemilker fucked me upppppp, so happy ur finally reacting to this, i feel you really have to feel her heartbreak on this album to understand why she made her next album utopia as a healing record. also utopia has its own “black lake” called “body memory” also 10 min
Ohhhh KEEN!!!
@@bennshouts I just heard her perform "Body Memory" in San Francisco a couple weeks ago --- it was EPIC, and absolutely amazing when performed live... A very epic song. It is basically like her revisiting Black Lake, only from a healed place.
From songfacts: "Body Memory" is about how your body can get you through trauma when your mind and emotions are all screwed up. It represents Bjork's determination to enjoy life rather than wallow in her grief. She explained to Pitchfork:
"'Black Lake' on Vulnicura was the darkest and saddest I've ever gone. 'Body Memory' is a reply to that. It is my manifesto. My subconscious was like, 'OK, I'll let you write the saddest song ever for 10 minutes if you then write something to counter that.' And then this song came out all in one go. Each verse is about big things in life: destiny, love, sex. It's a bit big-headed. It's about, 'OK, how am I going to live the second half of my life?' It's a new territory, a door that's opened."
History of Touches gets me every time. So relatable, that last time it happens when you know you're about to fall apart as a couple. Such a rough emotion to process.
I've been waiting for this reaction for a long time 🥺🥺🥺
Sorry it took so long 🥺
Been waiting on this one!! History of touches is one of my favorite Bjork songs and one of her sexiest!!!!
First half my favourite!!!
history of touches makes me so sad omg
It’s amazing but I kind of see it as an interlude track between Lionsong & Black Lake
I love this album SOOOO MUCH! Love to listen to it when I'm feeling like sh1t... good journey to go through... Great react 💜💛
Its fascinating how readily, easily & nattirally you hear the comedy in her music. I've been a serious listener for 30 years & I've only just detected these kuckoo nuances. Your sensitivities are so perceptive!!
vulnicura is absolutely bjork’s best out of her later work!! it’s classic 🤩 alsooo you should totally check out ‘once twice melody’ by beach house!! it just came out friday and it’s so good and spacey and it would be an excellent intro to the rest of their work!! love your channel
Thank you!!!
Éste es mi proyecto favorito de Björk, me encanta el roce de cuerdas de metal en cada pista, las letras son tan personales. :'o
I love your Björk reactions so much it's part of the reason why I'm subscribed. Can't wait for you to listen to Utopia. It's like the opposite of Vulnicura.
Aww thank you! And yes, cannot wait to get to it!!
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE! TURN IT UP!!!
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
for this album bjork did all the strings and arrangements lyrics done and then later she asked arca and haxen cloak come in for the finishing touches. the next album its more of an bjorkXArca collab album, they started the album together from the beginning
Love her strings!!!
Black Lake is literally the most depressing song ever and you're bouncing to it 😂
i mean... same but i dance crying to it
I mean the switch up part kinda slaps tho 😵💫
Hahahaha
The person singing with bjork in atom dance is anohni. Anohni is also on some of the tracks in Volta.
Ty!! 💕💕
The person who was on the Atom Dance Duet was the brilliant Anohni
She previously featured on Dull Flame of Desire and My Juvinle all the way back on Volta (although she is unfortunately Miscredited with her dead name)
Ohhhhh! I love that theyre still around with her x
Her and Arca really went off with this one.
Me liking and disliking arca on this 🙈🙈🙈
Don't forget rabit also contributed
how can you dislike Arca😭
@@ricochetsixtytenwhen she’s good she’s great, but she can overdo production sometimes and completely mess up a good song 😭
@@babybop9817rabit worked on utopia not vulnicura on the song loss, another great producer worked on a song on vulnicura (family) along with björk and arca the haxan cloak
omg, you did the reaction, I'm happy.
I guess you enjoy strings as much as me so you need to listen the version of this album but only with strings, it's sooo good.
And another recommendation, I would like you to react to the discography of Sopor Aeternus and the Ensemble Of Shadows, their music is INCREDIBLE and the storyline expressed in the lyrics are dope. You could start with "Les Fleurs du Mal".
Ow, and I want to mention that the person who sings in 'Atom Dance' is ANOHNI, the same who sings with Björk in "The Dull Flame Of Desire". And according to Genius, Atom dance is about healing and being open, and may be referencing to the concept of quantum entanglement, AKA "spooky attachment at a distance", where even two particles at great distance are still connected and impacting eachother. You spin one particle clockwise, the other will spin counterclockwise in tandem, even when they are separated.
Björk is expressing this concept in terms of her many relationships, with her friends and lovers, where even though they are separated, they are forever joined in an Atom dance, always influencing each other.
Uff, and for Black Lake, Genius says:
«During an interview for Grapevine.is she clarified why the song is so long.
“It's like, when you're trying to express something and you sort of start, but then nothing comes out. You can maybe utter five words and then you're just stuck in the pain. And the chords in-between, they sort of represent that. […] We called them "the freezes", these moments between the verses. They're longer than the verses, actually. It's just that one emotion when you're stuck. It is hard, but it's also the only way to escape the pain, just going back and having another go, trying to make another verse».
ily
Thank you!!!! 💞💞💞💞
The reaction i’ve been waiting for
💙💙
Vulnicura it's the first Björk album i've heard(in 2015) and i liked. But i heard again 6 years after and i LOVED IT. It's a masterpiece. The next is Utopia. You NEED to watch The Gate's music video to understand the meaning of the sounds. Utopia's music video it's so beautiful. I feel everything with this album. But Vulnicura it's definitely one of my top 3 Björk albums(with Medúlla and Vespertine).
This album is a masterpiece. The acoustic version gives more emphasis to the strings and its a totally different vibe.
Omg I can imagine!
Yeah love it 💕
I hope the next album is Dai Lam Linh (Vietnamese)
It's on SoundCloud yas 👍
Vulnicura and Vespertine my two fav bjork albums. Both so raw and emotional
I love this!! Bjork is underrated. Joji's nectar is good too, just a suggestion for your next reaction!!!
Stonemilker makes me cry so hard
Benn you have to watch the video for Notget, it's freaking amazeballs
Yesss I wanna watch all her vids!
Mouth Mantra is both about the lack of communication towards the end of her relationship, and it’s about how she felt after her vocal node surgery.
People on average stop listening to new music aged 33 (according to Spotify data - i won't die on this hill, I'm perfectly ok with all the old people listening to new music), and I'd imagine the majority of people into music reactions are skewing a little older than that. And it's not like Bjork is about giving you a comfortable pop record every few years, many of her fans will continue to insist she peaked between Debut/Post (insane) and Homogenic/Vespertine (understandable.) I was one of them, it took me so long to warm up to Medulla but I adore it now, and much of her recent work. But yeah, it does not surprise me the viewing figures go down!
I wonder, really, if it's easier to love Medulla now, knowing Bjork as a well established and mature Artist, rather than a youthful disco queen who was often genuinely a pop star, with all the shallow admiration and limitations that brought
That's heartbreaking 😭
@@eleanor4759 I don't think it is! it's a huuuuge generalisation, and it can't take into account things like: when i was 20 I would listen constantly with very little concern about quality but a LOT of concern about what was cool, and didn't really pay any care about what other people thought was important music. I used music to block things out, to make journeys short and forgettable, it was background noise while I studied, it was an ambient hum to get me to sleep. Now I listen to much less, but with more care and attention. I'm not saying it's wrong to use music as a tool and constant companion (and god knows it's used so exploitatively as such in advertising and media), just that I am much more suspicious of what I used to think "meant something," lol
This album from the 2015 era is a masterpiece and it's one of my 3 favorite albums of hers next to Homogenic and Vespertine.
But I also love her musical Selma songs from the amazing film Dancer in the Dark.
You should try Anohni's Hopelessness. Believe me.
I HIGHLY recommend listening to the strings version of mouth mantra or a live performance bc it’s way more tragic and gripping. It is probably my favorite song of hers, but I find that I listen to the stripped down version with just the orchestra way more often than the studio version. She has a acoustic version of this album called Vulnicura Strings! I genuinely think you would enjoy it!🥰🥰🥰
I love Mouth Mantra. In my opinion it definitely captures how it would be losing your voice as a singer and getting vocal cords surgery, knowing that you will lose range in the process.
I recommend watching the music videos 👌💯
Mouth Mantra is secretly one of her masterpieces, tho especially in this INCREDIBLE live version from Rome :-)
ua-cam.com/video/29-nbNlFvEo/v-deo.html
Makes so much more sense with the meaning!
Her most underrated album.
what about biophilia?
@@zhsradgreal one
Are yoy gonna react to Utopia Björk before Fossora comes out this month?!!!
It was Anohni aka (Anthony and the Johnson's) in the part where u asked who was singing with her in the 20min mark
Thank you! ❣️
I tend to agree with you, the first half of the album is some of her best stuff ever, the second is less my vibe, Atom Dance ended up growing on me though. But I mean... the first five alone bumps this album up really high in my Björk album ranking.
100% agree with this!!!
OMGOMGOMG HER BEST ALBUM.
Vulnicura! This album makes me cry and 💦 😃😭🤚
yay my fav bjork album!
🖤🖤🖤
I friggen love this album!
React to girl in red if i could make it go quiet album please 😢
I think most people don't love the last 4 songs right away. It took me a while to come to love songs like Mouth Mantra and Notget.
The first 5 songs are all directly part of the same story, the before and after of her divorce. Then Notget and Atom Dance both talk about feeling safe and finding happiness again after that love was lost. The last 2 don't talk about the divorce at all, they just add on to the story of the hard time that she had while she was also going through that divorce. Mouth Mantra is about several years of having a polyp on her vocal cords which eventually led her to go through a vocal surgery, and how she couldn't speak after it. And Quicksand is about when her mother was in a coma for a week following a heart attack.
I’m in that case . I don’t like the music after family. I don’t know. Just the music who are complicated to Listen. For me the best of vulnicura , history of touch and family .o forgot to say. I am French. So when an artist sing in English , I don’t understand the lyrics. So when I don’t like a song , I just talk about « harmony » . I really don’t like utopia. No harmony . A lot of instrument mixed together. No sens no logic no linear beats etc…
I am probably weird bc Mouth Mantra and Quicksand were instantly two of my favourites ;-)
right now I'd say Stonemilker/Family/Mouth Mantra is the strongest trio on the album, all career-high tracks for me
Thank you!!!
Stonemilker, Lionsong, & Atom Dance are the best songs from this album for casual listeners. The rest can stay in the vault.
This album is so good!!! Masterpiece!
YASSSSS
As a lot of people write here, Vulnicura is her break-up album with her ex-husband (her inspiration in Vespertine), tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 are specifically about the breakup, Atom Dance could be a Biophilia reject (for the lyrics and the same person who co-write "Thunderbolt" has credits on this song too), Mouth Mantra is about her voice (she had problems with it since Volta tour) and Quicksand is about her mother (I thought you'll love Quicksand haha, I wasn't correct)
Actually their last albums are their less-popular on her discography because are so experimental and polarizing so it's normal that your reactions for her last albums if these views are low, people want Debut or Post 2.0 but in this moment we all know she won't do an pop-ish album like her first ones.
Finally, her last album "Utopia" is 50% Bjork and 50% Arca and for me is the most polarizing album, so I hope you'll love it, basically Utopia is opposite to Vulnicura and more experimental.
Thank you for your reaction! Remember Bjork will release album this year too!
I agree with you but thought I might point out, Vulnicura and Utopia were critically received better than Medulla, Vola, And Biophilia (although Medulla is now seen as one of her best)
Thank you for this!!!!! Loved reading!
You have to watch Mouth Mantra video: ua-cam.com/video/pNY5ezdmLck/v-deo.html they 3D printed her mouth x300 and put a 360° camera in it to film it, she had voice issues few years prior, this song is about that, it’s my fav on the record so it’s interesting to see that you didn’t like it
i would like you to do a reaction to Utopia by Björk
I will x
Family is the best bjork song .
Nasty rough at the beginning and after the strings : heaven :)
Definitely one of the best albums she has released so far. My favourite is Family, my least favourite is Black Lake (but even that one I love)
Least?!?! Omgggg
Black Lake least fav whatttt
@@mirroredheart7292 in terms of songwriting, Black Lake sounds like the least daring one of the bunch to me. For the same reason, Stonemilker is also not one of my favourite. I'm an adventurous man, I enjoy venturing into more daring compositions.
But still, I do love Black Lake, it's an incredibly honest song.
Bjork's best album
First half 100% the best I think! ❣️
@@bennshouts this album is my heart, one of the best albums i ever listened to. I spend years stucked into this masterpiece. So its personal hahah Family still devastates me. But Homogenic and vespertine top3 with vulnicura
Yeah Black Lake and Family are easily my favourite songs by her, such standouts! Its def one of my favourite by her even if I didnt like every song
I think it’s her 3rd best, it’s a masterpiece for sure
@@yaeguuji1829 spill
OMG YAAAAS
😍😍😍
Bjork is a Goddess! I Love Her!
OH MY GODDD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
❣️❣️❣️
omg i love notget so much. it's sound SO desperate and angry just like she was feeling at this song
Mouth Mantra is about her getting vocal chord surgery
😭😭
Stonemilker has a 37 min long remix by Forest Sword check it out!
finallyyyyy my favorite one, so sad my god
You ❣️❣️❣️
I don't know how you decide to react 4 an album, but if you react to " Adoro Bolos by Conan Osiris " it would be a dream come true for me. He's from Portugal, he produces his own shit and It's an interesting album.
Amo o clipe de Lionsong pq no clipe ela esta com o Look da Capa
LISTEN TO "SHAKING THE HABITUAL" BY THE KNIFE!!!
U should check out trans siberian orchestra, they r a group that does heavy metal, rock versions of christmas songs, as well as their own christmas music
Babeees react to Utopia (2018) - Björk
Nice reaction!!! Please react to UTOPIA, the last Björk album!!!
UTOPIA is still missing !!! :D
pls pls pls react to chase icon's ep 'doamination'. its a raunchy ep filled with BANGERS
Okay Im actually keen af to do this!
@@bennshouts also if u like that listen to her debut song srs, its iconic af
Now it is time for Utopia
Bjork is everything!!!!!
Björk primeira cantora que faz eu ouvir uma música de 10 minutos
This album is actually mostly bjork. Utopia IS 50℅ Bjork and 50℅ arca
(I think)
You trying to groove to this with a ? on your face. So funny! ☺
😂😂🤪🤩🤪
Black lake…. 🤩
Arca produced all the songs of this album
That's actually not correct
@@nomi.hagen. except for the first, Stonemilker and the last one, Quicksand lol but she co-produced the album, right?
duuude how dare you dislike Mouth Mantra!!!!
no srsly I get it bc it's the most difficult and challenging track on the album...
...BUT it's a masterpiece and I will not accept any slander against it :-)
also this is live version is unbelievable ua-cam.com/video/29-nbNlFvEo/v-deo.html
Hahahaha sorrrrrryyyyyy
Esse álbum é incrível
I named my cat Bjork because they both sing the same.
Omg
React to THE KICK by Foxes pleaseee. It's already being called as a POP MASTERPIECE
Your teeth! 🤩
😘😘😘
💞✌
💖💖💖
Oh my god ^^ finally. Reaction to vulnicura ^^ let’s go. Headphones. A coffee. On the sofa with a plaid. Let’s go :)
Ok done ^^ yes yes yes very good reaction. When you talk about black lack, I was like hey man ^^ you are not ready for family and the awesome atmospheric outro (drone effect) I have cry the first time I listen this song :) thank you so much for this reaction .have a good day :) just for fun, a gift , my favorite when I drive on the free way : ua-cam.com/video/JrhtJJFevBM/v-deo.html
I listened to this twice, and likely never will again. I understand she was grieving, but the lack of melody just makes this, as she intended, one long, brutal open wound that's not even something I could listen or relate to in my darkest days (and she wouldn't have survived a day of my darkest days I had to as a child, so when people go on about cheating like it's the end of the world, my eyes roll).
The technical ability is there, she's an amazing musician, but I'm sorry, the production is overbearing and monotonous, and stifles the life out of what likely could have been a masterpiece. If a song is going to be closer to 10 than 5 minutes, it has to be interesting as well. Nothing captures your attention, not even her singing.
Utopia is miles better, there was still a couple of songs that should have been on this one instead that I edit out when listening to it, but I was worried that this was going to be a standard for her going forward, like Tori Amos' run of bad habits in production starting with the abysmal "Unrepentant Geraldines" album.
mouth mantra is one of the best songs on the album 😃😭🤚🤚
TASTE!!
my Top 3 along with Stonemilker and Family
@@charliez077 Yess!! Love those songs too!
Hahahahahah
This albums all about her breakup with Matthew barney. Also her 1st album with arca (who I really don't like and feel he's destroying her style) tbh I find this album very boring and the one after imo is awful. Once you're done with bjork you should listen to the sugarcubes. Far less pretentious than she is now and their live shows were even better.
Oh my
God yes ^^ sugar cubes albums :)
Björk’s never been the sole creator of everything she’s done, she’s the main creative force but she’s always had people co-produce with her so this issue you have with her collaborating with another producer doesn’t really make sense 😅
they do a small part of the whole process while your statement make it sound as if björk is only doing a small part of it, and that is completely wron
🙃🙃🙃
Just like Stonemilker embraces on dark feelings, so does mine. This song just made me cry because I knew the "emotional respect" and "mutual coordinates" and "syncronize our feelings" was never there when i needed it most. And this is why this is favorite Bjork song, because it gets me alot.