Björk has previewed a new song, ‘Nerve Bloom’, from her forthcoming album, with stunning visuals at the Echolalia exhibition opening.
The track was unveiled as the singer opened the major new show at the The National Gallery of Iceland in Reykjavík on Saturday (May 30).
The gallery is formed of three, deeply personal, large-scale audiovisual installations from Björk – two of which are reworkings of songs from her 2022 album ‘Fossora‘, and another is a first glimpse at an upcoming album.
That album has not yet been officially announced, although it is expected to be released in 2027.
The first taster, included in the exhibition, is titled ‘Nerve Bloom’ and is a demo version of a track expected to feature on the forthcoming record. Björk attended the gallery opening over the weekend and went on to share a clip of the new song on social media.
Describing how she chose to showcase the song alongside stunning visuals, the singer said that she worked with painter Natalia Kleszczewska and graphic designer Natalie Liu for seven months to capture the energy heard in the recording.
“My role in it was a creative director, bringing in the singer-songwriter tradition, where emotionally precise things happen inside the structure of a song,” she explained. “I guided colour palettes, textures and the environments the music happens in.
“To make this possible, during the process, Natalia often had to paint many shapes and
sizes, different textures and layers of colours,” she added. “Natalie then developed the visuals, designing and overseeing CGI elements, and finding ways for the digital to sit organically alongside Natalia’s world and include my dramaturgy and creative direction.”
As heard in the clip she shared, as well as other videos from fans who attended the exhibition, the song carries a similar atmosphere to her last album ‘Fossora’, and sees her blend her powerful, enchanting vocal melodies with ethereal, grandiose instrumentals.
As well as the new song, the exhibition also sees ‘Ancestress’ and ‘Sorrowful Soil’ – each taken from her 2022 album – reimagined on a theatrical scale within a museum context for the first time.
‘Ancestress’ tackles themes of grief and renewal, and is showcased with visuals of a remote Icelandic valley in the gallery, while ‘Sorrowful Soul’ is presented as an immersive nine-part piece, including 30 individual speaker channels transmitting voices from the Hamrahlíð Choir.
Bottega Veneta, Apple, AIAIAI and Genelec are all involved in the new exhibition too, and the gallery also has a companion exhibition called ‘Metamorphlings’ open for the public, which is designed by Björk’s longtime visual collaborator and co-creative director, James Merry.
Tickets are available now for the exhibition, and it is set to remain open until September 20.
The doors opened to the exhibition over the weekend, and it comes on the heels of Björk announcing a new solar eclipse rave called ‘Echolalia’, which is taking place in Iceland later this summer.
During that event, performances will come from Björk, Arca, Sideproject and Ronja Jóhannsdóttir, and there will be a two hour eclipse where the site will be bathed in the natural half-light, and just over one minute of “totality”, where the moon completely obscures the sun and creates total darkness.
Björk announced the event in April, and also confirmed details of the new exhibition and forthcoming album at that time.
In 2022, the singer spoke to NME about her connection with live music, the natural world, and Iceland, and revealed that while she is often travelling and going to new events, she ultimately feels grounded when she returns to her home country.
“I’m not really an urban person,” she said, explaining the balance between her social life and natural settings. “I love visiting cities and going clubbing or seeing a gallery or concert, but then I just want to go home. I’m more of a rural person by nature, so it was just a total blessing for me to be [in Iceland during the pandemic.”
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