New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On her new single "ancestress", Björk ponders mortality and the ritualistic aspects of grief.
In the video she leads a tribal procession before concocting mysterious elixirs.
The track is taken from her forthcoming album, "fossora", set for release
September 30th via One
Little Independent Records.
"on my new album , fossora , i wrote 2 songs to my mother . this one , ancestress , is written just after her wordly funeral
and is probably an impulse common with musicians :
to make your version of the story, later
i am very grateful to my son , sindri eldon , to arrange and sing vocals in the choruses
as he has a sublime voice and was very close to her
for 20 years i have not been able to attend funerals as something in them rubbed me the wrong way .
possibly a big part of it is after having lived a life of thousands concerts , i probably have too strong ideas on how a ritual should be ,
too bossy about what kinda sound , musical structure , words it should include
and it took me all this time to discover that for me all funerals should be outside
probably what was offending me most was how can one set off the spirit in such a claustrophobic environment as a church ?
when the soul sets off , it needs to be outside so there is room for how enormous it becomes when it merges with the elements
so therefore i asked my friend andrew thomas huang to help me film this outside , in a valley she often picked herbs in
to create a procession of musicians celebrating her life
i am grateful for my brother to carry her ashes and take part
also to james merry to make masks for all of us including an ocean of musicians
and erna ómarsdóttir to choreograph my mother´s spirit and her helpers
warmthness - björk"
The video is directed by Andrew
Thomas Huang with co-creative direction by Björk with creative consultant and longtime collaborator
James Merry.
Björk is a multidisciplinary artist who, time and again, innovates across music, art, fashion and technology. From writing, arranging and producing an expansive music catalogue to her collaborations with scientists, app developers, writers, inventors, musicians and instrument makers, Björk continues to inspire and experiment, redefining the boundaries of what it means to be a musician.
Special thanks to Pierpaolo Piccioli and
Valentino for all their help and support in making this video, especially for the collaboration on the stunning dress that Björk wears in the video, and Squarespace for helping in creating a special website to launch these audio-visual projects — learn more at fossora.com.
