• News

• All

Dec 02, 2022 By Mark Redfern

Björk released a new album, Fossora, in September via One Little Independent (stream it here). Now she has shared a video for the album’s Sorrowful Soil,” shot at the active Fagradalsfjall volcano in her native Iceland. Viðar Logi directed the video. Watch it below.

Björk had this to say about the song in statement (which we’ve left unedited):

“sorrowful soil is a song i wrote from random improvisations .. i kinda
thought i was writing another song but then when i edited it i threw away
most of the stuff and this is what stood there staring at me

“for me, sorrowful soil and ancestress are the 2 songs on fossora written
for my mother ... ancestress is my take on funeral-music but sorrowful soil
is written 2 years before and mirrors more that last chapter .

“at the time i had been working with the fantastic hamrahlid choir and
wanted to give them the piece they deserved , and with that intention
unknowingly wrote what the conductor þorgerður ingólfsdóttir said was the
most difficult piece they ever sang . it has 9 voices, not the usual 4 ( sopran,
alt, teno , bass ) which took the choir evenings of a whole summer to rehearse,
i am so incredibly grateful to them for this sacrifice and you can hear all
of it in the recording

“the lyric is an attempt for an eulogy and instead of the dry fact checking :
place of birth , job, marriage , i wanted to celebrate the biological data like
the fact that most girls are born with 400 eggs ... and then in their lifetime
they make 2-3 nests…

“when my grandfather passed away there was a pamphlet at the
hospital advising relatives how to talk to loved ones before they pass away.
i loved how it went really generic and universal and said that all of them
will give families to-do-lists (dry-cleaning and such)

“but also ask if they did well .

“the last part of the lyric is following this advice”

Read Austin Saalman’s review of Fossora here.

Previously Björk shared the album’s cover art and tracklist. Then she shared the album’s first single, “Atopos,” via a weird and wonderful video for the new song. “Atopos” was one of our Songs of the Week. Then she shared the album’s second single, “Ovule,” via a majestic video. Then Björk shared the album’s third single, “Ancestress,” a moving song about her late mother. It was shared via a video for the new song, which made our Songs of the Week list. Then she shared the album’s fourth single, title track “Fossora,” which features Kasimyn.

Björk Tour Dates:

March 3rd - Perth Festival, Langley Park, Perth, Australia - Cornucopia Live
March 6th - Perth Festival, Langley Park, Perth, Australia - Cornucopia Live
March 9th - Perth Festival, Langley Park, Perth, Australia - Cornucopia Live
March 12th - Perth Festival, Langley Park, Perth, Australia - Cornucopia Live
March 20th - Tokyo Garden Theatre, Tokyo, Japan - Orchestral Show
March 25th - Kobe World Memorial Hall, Kobe, Japan - Orchestral Show
March 28th - Tokyo Garden Theatre, Tokyo, Japan - Cornucopia Show
March 31st - Tokyo Garden Theatre, Tokyo, Japan – Cornucopia Show

Support Under the Radar on Patreon.