Single Review: Björk – Hollow

When it comes to creating music, Björk has never been one to shy away from the unorthodox. Her latest creation is another original, thought provoking piece of art. Titled ‘Hollow’, the piece explores the idea that we are all hollow ‘trunks’ carrying our DNA on for generations to come. “It’s like being part of this everlasting necklace”, says Björk; “when you’re just a bead on a chain and you sort of want to belong and be a part of it and it’s just like a miracle.”

Teaming up with a biomedical animator, Drew Berry, the accompanying video is a fascinating (and very beautiful) semi medically-accurate exploration of the microscopic and molecular landscapes inside Björk’s body. The animation was constructed from molecular models of DNA and proteins derived from various forms of scientific data such as x-ray crystallography.

The audience first encounter Björk’s ancestral spirit inside a cell nucleus. Her spirit watches over her genes as they flow from one generation to the next. The spirit manifests as a large molecular complex which was modeled from a three-dimensional head scan of Björk.

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The song is gorgeous; intricately constructed, and peppered with the gentle, haunting vocals the Icelandic singer is known for. A subtly gothic undertone seeps through this song, and is illustrated well with the unusual video. “All these ghosts come up”, says Björk, “so it ended up being a Halloween song and quite gothic in a way”.

Hollow is part of the Biophelia project, the ‘app-album’ released at the end of last year. Partially recorded on an iPad, and released as a series of interactive apps, the project encompasses “music, apps, Internet, installations, and live shows”.

By Sophie Berry
@sophieberry