Charli XCX says he is interested in exploring the “tension of staying too long” in relation to the era of ‘Brat’ (2024), which has just turned a year. Apparently, a year of Era seems more than enough, if not directly go from the line (not punned). Björk does not think the same. Its eras are living organisms. They do not die: they mutate, expand, they recombine. Again and again, for years.
Not happy with the ‘cornucopia’ concert, which extended from 2019 to the end of 2023; With the projection of the ‘Cornucopia’ film, and with the launch of the book of ‘Cornucopia’, Björk has announced the album of ‘Cornucopia’, which will be published in audio and video on October 24.
Björk is known for stretching his eras to the unspeakable. Since ‘debut’ (1993), each of its albums has been promoted with a sponsors of parallel throws Collector meat: CD singles or 12 ″ in multiple versions (my favorite is the “slug genitals”); Live discs released in block (‘Telegram’, ‘Bastards’) or by deliveries (‘vulnicura’); Orchestral versions, DVD documentaries, colored vinyl, the strange ‘family tree’ that nobody knows very well what it was; Or even scores books: almost no format has escaped.
Björk’s recent reissues have been especially crazy: the Special Box of ‘Fossora’ included a silk scarf; The ‘utopia’ a carved flute to imitate bird songs, ‘vulnicure’ a “virtual” immersive “reality” format was launched; From ‘Biophilia’ an available version was sold in a wooden box containing 10 chrome fingerboard, each refined with the tone of an album’s track (and all this as part of an educational project that linked music, science and technology). Next to it, the 2006 ‘Surrouted’ box, which gathered its entire discography until then in Dualdisc format (CD + DVD-Audio), falls short. The funny thing is that many current systems are no longer compatible with that format: so that they say about Lorde and its transparent CD.
Björk’s obsession for squeezing his albums to infinity may seem comic to some. For something it is known as the Icelandic Churrera (the original title is from Rihanna). However, Björk is not the only artist who reissues his albums and extends his eras for years. But it is one of those who does it with greater imagination and, above all, with an almost sacred respect for his own work: you just have to visualize the spectacular concert of ‘Cornucopia’ to verify that Björk will never treat any of his albums as a minor work. Therefore, the public either. Why does one have to last a year, being able to last all eternity?
What in other artists might seem likely, in the hands of Björk it becomes an infinite invitation to discover and rediscover his work, often through objects that could be exposed in a museum, as his entire career has been. Some of its most elaborate releases may not be affordable for all pockets, but the way in which ‘cornucopia’ continues to create content (Björk, a content creator) six years after its premiere, demonstrates that Björk not only builds records or eras, but creates continuous expanding universes that can be reinterpreted again and again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opqlkynqefw
