Björk - Human Behaviour (Debut 1993)

Björk - Human Behaviour (Debut 1993)

In the early 90s, MTV was still an important source for new music. Björk was big right from her first videos. She had been known before, not only in Iceland, but things really took off when she moved to London in the early 90s and recorded her first English-language album Debut with Nellee Hooper, among others. I've never been a big Björk fan, but Debut still plays regularly in my house. And in fact, it's the MTV singles that I like best - also because the videos have burned themselves in so much. The fairytale Human Behaviour, the drive through NYC on the truck bed for Big Time Sensuality, the cell in Violently Happy. For me, this album was a milestone because it organically combined acoustic sounds with an electronic way of producing. The approach to the Bristol scene of the time is unmistakable (Björk was with Tricky and with Goldie in the 90s, Nellee Cooper had produced Massive Attack). But the very first track sums up the feeling of the whole album: Human Behaviour with its driving drum/percussion samples and Björk's distinctive vocals. And behind everything there is a clearly defined musicality - the really well arranged strings, the melodic line of the vocals, the minimalistic but effective chord progression.

This is one of the tracks on my playlist BETWEEN INDIE & TRONICA - linked here.