After the successful release of her latest album ‘Utopia,’ Björk is back on stage with a new concert, which will be held in Reykjavík in the modest halls of Háskólabíó on April 12th.
Local newspaper Morgunblaðið published an interview with Björk in today’s print issue, where the musician explains how this concert will serve as some sort of trial for her new Utopia world tour, which will begin at the end of the year.
“I’ve heard that people here at home complain about the fact that I don’t play enough here in Iceland,” she said about her decision. “Then I also think it will be a really good learning experience for all of us to do this as a general test without lights or graphics.”
Björk has been working with Icelandic performers since her ‘Homogenic’ world tour, where she played alongside Icelandic string players. This time, instead, Björk asked a group of Icelandic flautists to accompany her performance: Melkorka Ólafsdóttir, Áshildur Haraldsdóttir, Berglind María Tómasdóttir, Björg Brjánsdóttir, Þúriður Jónsdóttir and Emilía Rós Sigfúsdóttir will therefore join her on stage.
Flutes dominate Björk’s album ‘Utopia,’ with songs like the title track, “Saint,” and “Paradisia,” existing in an environment made from the softest of sounds. Fluttering wings and guttural bird songs burst gently into the beats, giving the tracks a lingering oneiric feel. Gusts of melody breathe freshness into the lyrics.
“You feel like there’s wind blowing over you,” Björk told the Grapevine in December. “It’s to clear the air after the drama of ‘Vulnicura.’ To breathe.”
Although she employed twelve flutes in ‘Utopia,’ Björk decided to only involve seven flautists for this concert to encourage her audience to focus on the individual sounds. “These girls are all very different,” she told Morgunblaðið. “Some of them are into modern music, some are more into French romanticism, others are doing more improv and experimental music—and they’re the best flautists in Iceland!”
Tickets for her Háskólabíó concert will be available on tix.is from tomorrow, Friday 16th at 12:00 pm.
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