Bjork

Selmasongs

Selmasongs, the new release from (and I bet you've never heard her described as such) Icelandic Songstress Bjork is actually a seven-song soundtrack to the new Lars Von Trier movie Dancer in the Dark. Von Trier is the most talented of a group of filmmakers working under the Dogme95 manifesto, which shuns traditional production values in favor of on-sight sound, natural lighting and handheld camerawork.

Thus, the new Bjork record is not the sparse affair that her Homogeneic was. Instead, Selmasongs, featuring a full orchestra on some tracks and industrial clamor on others, marks Bjorkıs return to more lush, complex orchestrations. The production features the smooth, pro-tools, edited feel that all post-Sugarcubes Bjork work boasts. And though it all sounds extremely pretty and will likely please longtime fans, it may not win her any new ones.

The one aspect sure to boost Bjorkıs album sales, (or at least more MP3 downloads) is her collaboration with Radiohead's Tom Yorke on "I've Seen it All," the albumıs third track. Yorke and Bjork sing back and forth in classic duet question/answer fashion, with Yorke's voice never sounding more full and even.

Other contributions to the album include a nondescript vocal performance by working actress Catherine Deneuve, and some programming by Van Trier himself.

Bjork's Selmasongs'is a more spacious and lush record than her previous effort. Though it doesn't appear that the singer and her various co-writers (including Von Trier) spent much time laboring over lyrics, they have still created a lush and moody orchestral record sure to tide over diehards until her next effort.