Innocence (Björk song)
Encyclopedia
"Innocence" is a song written and recorded by Iceland
ic singer Björk
. The song was released as the second single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta
. It is co-produced by Hip-Hop/R&B record producer
Timbaland
and his protégé Danja. The song was premiered on Björk's MySpace
profile on March 19, 2007 as part of the fan contest to submit ideas for the music video
. The single was released exclusively as a digital download
on July 23, 2007.
" in London couldn't take place. The decision was subsequently made to move the deadline for the contest forward by a month to June 10 in order to release the track "Innocence" (then slated as the third single from the album) around the same period that "Declare Independence" would have been originally released. The decision was met with mixed reactions by fans as many were subsequently unable to submit their ideas due to the new deadline. The shooting for the video of "Declare Independence" (originally announced as the album's second single) was rescheduled to August. Many of the videos entered into the competition can be viewed on the YouTube
video sharing
website.
On July 27, 2007 bjork.com announced that the winner of the video contest was to be decided via an online poll (reminiscent of the online poll used to decide on the tracklisting for the Greatest Hits
album) from a shortlist of eleven videos. On August 7, 2007, the winners, a French
duo known only as Fred & Annabelle, were chosen.
EP
was released on the iTunes Store
in various countries on July 23, 2007 and made available in the USA and other territories on July 31, 2007. The original release was reported to include 3 additional tracks - "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco Remix Radio Edit), "Innocence" (Mark Stent Instrumental) and "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco Dub Remix). These tracks were omitted from the final digital release for unknown reasons, but they were present on promotional CDs which aren't commercially available. The Mark Stent track refers to an alternate mix of the album version (originally mixed by Jimmy Douglas), although very little difference can be heard. On July 23, 2007 bjork.com released the full artwork from the single as a PDF file, seen by some as a concession to the lack of a physical release.
" in 1997 (the EP charted at #191 in 1998, however), and the second being "Oceania
" in 2004.
{| width="0%"
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{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart
!align="center"|Peak
position
|-
|align="left"|European Singles Chart
|align="center"|50
|-
|align="left"|Greek Singles Chart
|align="center"|16
|-
|align="left"|Italian Singles Chart
|align="center"|9
|-
|}
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic singer Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
. The song was released as the second single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta
Volta (album)
Volta is the seventh studio album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in May 2007. It was produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Timbaland and Danja. The music of Volta was a new style for Björk, focusing on similar sounding music combining African beats and other instruments with songs in tribute to Africa...
. It is co-produced by Hip-Hop/R&B record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
and his protégé Danja. The song was premiered on Björk's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
profile on March 19, 2007 as part of the fan contest to submit ideas for the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. The single was released exclusively as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
on July 23, 2007.
Music video contest
A fan contest to submit ideas for the music video for "Innocence" was announced in a news article on bjork.com on March 19, 2007, with the intention being that Björk would work with the chosen fan director to fully flesh out the video idea. The original deadline for the competition was to be on July 10; however, due to the worldwide success of Volta, Björk had to perform more international promotion work than her label One Little Indian had originally planned, meaning that the previously-planned video shoot for "Declare IndependenceDeclare Independence
"Declare Independence" is an industrial-nu metal song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The track was released as the third single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released on January 1, 2008...
" in London couldn't take place. The decision was subsequently made to move the deadline for the contest forward by a month to June 10 in order to release the track "Innocence" (then slated as the third single from the album) around the same period that "Declare Independence" would have been originally released. The decision was met with mixed reactions by fans as many were subsequently unable to submit their ideas due to the new deadline. The shooting for the video of "Declare Independence" (originally announced as the album's second single) was rescheduled to August. Many of the videos entered into the competition can be viewed on the YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video sharing
Video sharing
Video hosting services refers to websites or software where users can distribute their video clips. Other sites such as file hosting services image hosting services and social network services might support video sharing as an enhancement to their primary mission, but in general, they are not...
website.
On July 27, 2007 bjork.com announced that the winner of the video contest was to be decided via an online poll (reminiscent of the online poll used to decide on the tracklisting for the Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Björk album)
Greatest Hits is a compilation album released in November 2002 featuring the songs of Icelandic singer Björk. Although not all of Björk's singles are included on this collection, all of the songs on Greatest Hits were released as singles. The tracks were selected by fans through a survey on...
album) from a shortlist of eleven videos. On August 7, 2007, the winners, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
duo known only as Fred & Annabelle, were chosen.
Digital EP
A digital-onlyOnline music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
was released on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
in various countries on July 23, 2007 and made available in the USA and other territories on July 31, 2007. The original release was reported to include 3 additional tracks - "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco Remix Radio Edit), "Innocence" (Mark Stent Instrumental) and "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco Dub Remix). These tracks were omitted from the final digital release for unknown reasons, but they were present on promotional CDs which aren't commercially available. The Mark Stent track refers to an alternate mix of the album version (originally mixed by Jimmy Douglas), although very little difference can be heard. On July 23, 2007 bjork.com released the full artwork from the single as a PDF file, seen by some as a concession to the lack of a physical release.
- "Innocence" (Mark StentMark StentMark 'Spike' Stent is a British record producer, and audio engineer who has worked with The KLF, Björk, Keane, Depeche Mode, Muse, Erasure, Hard-Fi, Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson, Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, CSS, Beth Orton,...
Radio Edit) - "Innocence" (Simian Mobile DiscoSimian Mobile DiscoSimian Mobile Disco are a United Kingdom-based production and remix team formed in 2005 by James Ford and Jas Shaw of the band Simian. Musically, they are known for their analogue production...
12" Remix) - "Innocence" (Alva NotoAlva NotoAlva Noto is a stage name of sound artist Carsten Nicolai who uses art and music as complementary tools to create microscopic views of creative processes. Another alias he uses is Noto...
Unitxt Remodel 12" Remix) - "Innocence" (GhostigitalEinar Örn BenediktssonEinar Örn Benediktsson is a popular music singer and trumpet player who has worked with Björk and The Sugarcubes. Since the 2010 elections he is a member of the city council of Reykjavík....
Untouchable Innocence Still Amazes Fearless Remix)
Limited edition double pack - 12" & CD & DVD
A limited edition "multiformat" box set was released at the beginning of March 2008 with different artwork and with 2 of the missing remixes added. The box set consists of a sticker-sealed fold out box with five nesting boxes containing two 12" vinyl singles, a CD and a DVD in colored paper sleeves.12" Double Heavy Weight Vinyl
- "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco 12"remix)
- "Innocence" (Alvo Noto Unitxt remodel 12" remix)
- "Innocence" (Mark Stent Remix)
- "Innocence" (Ghostigital Untouchable Innocence Still Amazes 12")
- "Innocence" (Jimmy Douglas Mix)
- "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco Dub)
- "Innocence" (Mark Stent Instrumental)
CD
- "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco 12"remix)
- "Innocence" (Alvo Noto Unitxt remodel 12" remix)
- "Innocence" (Mark Stent Remix)
- "Innocence" (Ghostigital Untouchable Innocence Still Amazes 12")
- "Innocence" (Jimmy Douglas Mix)
- "Innocence" (Simian Mobile Disco Dub)
- "Innocence" (Mark Stent Instrumental)
DVD
Charts
Perhaps because of the lack of a physical release, "Innocence" failed to chart in the UK, becoming only the third single of Björk's career up until this point not to chart, the first being "JógaJóga
"Jóga" is a song by Björk, and the first single from her 1997 album Homogenic. It features a mix of classical string instruments with heavy electronic beats which is present in the whole album.-Background:...
" in 1997 (the EP charted at #191 in 1998, however), and the second being "Oceania
Oceania (song)
"Oceania" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk. It was formerly planned to be the first single release from Björk's Medúlla album. Later it was just released as a promo. It was written for the 2004 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony, where she performed immediately following the Parade of Nations...
" in 2004.
{| width="0%"
|- valign="top"
| width="25%" |
{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart
!align="center"|Peak
position
|-
|align="left"|European Singles Chart
|align="center"|50
|-
|align="left"|Greek Singles Chart
|align="center"|16
|-
|align="left"|Italian Singles Chart
|align="center"|9
|-
|}