Björk—an essential, visionary artist—has released an animated music video to accompany her song “Victimhood” from her 2022 album Fossora. The project debuted at the Lisbon stop of her current Cornucopia UK arena tour on Sept. 1st, and is now available to the public via Björk’s YouTube channel.
Since Debut in 1993, the Icelandic singer-songwriter has been known as an artist whose creativity never fails to transcend her music. From her iconic Post (1995) album art and trademark logo styling to other-worldly live shows, Björk has built eye-catching visuals to enhance her brand and following. Thirty years after her first solo project, Björk’s tenth studio album Fossora landed her a 2023 GRAMMY award nomination for Best Alternative Album.
“Victimhood” contains many woodwind instruments, which lead the song in a foreboding way. The track builds in an ambient and abstract way, with Björk’s structure-less melodies weaving in and out over a simple drum machine beat and the dark, droning woodwinds. The music video features painted textures and mystical characters that float around a blue, cloudy world somewhat reminiscent of an underwater stage from a Spore video game. Around halfway through the video, the song begins to ramp up into a more dramatic passage, and the loose story progresses.
The video was co-directed by French filmmaker Pierre-Alain Giraud and Icelandic artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir. The duo collaborated to create this piece with Friðriksdóttir taking on the artwork, and Giraud handling the animation. When put together, their talents form a unique and magical style of video, bringing life to painted images in a way that appears seamless. “(Friðriksdóttir) is one of my best friends and me and my children have lived with her paintings, sculptures, drawings, films and animations all of our lives.” Björk said via an Instagram post. Along with the music video, Björk also shared a podcast-esque conversation with the artist on her YouTube channel, where the two discuss how their collaboration came to be.
As of now, Björk has yet to announce Cornucopia tour dates for the US. For updates, be sure to visit her website, along with her social media accounts. To watch the “Victimhood” music video and its accompanying conversation, click the link below.