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Volta (album)
Encyclopedia
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. The full album was accidentally made available on the UK iTunes Store
at midnight on April 23, 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date. This led to the album being leaked online the following day. It has been certified Silver in the United Kingdom.
The album attracted attention due to the inclusion of three tracks co-produced by R&B record producer Timbaland
. Volta marked the first of several production collaborations between Timbaland and Björk, whom Björk would cite as a major influence on her musical career. The album was highly acclaimed on its initial release and continues to be praised by critics. Volta spent nine weeks at number one on Billboards Top Electronic Albums
chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. The lead single, "Earth Intruders", reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart
, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart
, while the remix EP later released charted on its own at #150. In the United States, the song debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
at number 84 in the issue dated April 28, 2007. Björk went on an 18 month tour in support of the album, which was her first tour in four years.
The album was re-released in June 2009 under the name Voltaïc. It refers to five separate releases of related material from Volta. The full version of the release will include a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios
, a DVD of Björk's live performances in Paris and Reykjavík
during the Volta tour, a second DVD of the Volta music videos as well as videos of the top ten runners-up from the "Innocence
" video contest, and a second CD of remix
es from Voltas singles. The official worldwide release date of all editions was June 23, 2009. The artwork was nominated for an award at the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards.
, Björk talked for the first time about the theme of the album.
In the run-up to the release of the album, many media outlets were lauding the album as a return to the supposed "pop" sound of Björk's earlier solo albums Debut and Post. This was due in part to the inclusion of three tracks co-produced by record producer Timbaland
; in interviews before the album's release he had stated that seven of the tracks he worked with Björk on would end up on her album, seemingly indicating that there would be more of Timbaland's involvement on the record than there eventually was. At the time Timbaland had also had recent hits with Justin Timberlake
(SexyBack
) and Nelly Furtado
(Promiscuous
and Maneater
), with him and his protégé Danja being responsible for some of the biggest hits of 2006 and 2007. As the news of Björk having worked with Timbaland spread across the internet, many websites started speculating on whether the album would be "hip hop
" flavoured; in one interview Timbaland himself referred to the upcoming album as "hip hop".
The online music magazine Pitchfork Media
, in their exclusive first interview with Björk for the promotion of Volta, quoted Björk as saying that the new album would be "full-bodied and really up". This was taken by fans as further evidence of a more "pop" album (as compared to her more recent output). A week later the head of Björk's record company, Derek Birkett, heralded the new album as "the most commercial thing she's ever done" in Music Week
, the trade paper for the UK record industry.
Björk has since stated that the media effectively "got it wrong" with regard to their coverage of the album, insisting that the album was not "hip hop" (and that she had not intended for it to be so either). She said that she did not want to work with Timbaland as a "hitmaker
", or because of his affiliation to a particular genre, but wanted to work with him solely as a musician in his own right. She has also said that One Little Indian "always feel that ‘my latest release is the most commercial to date’", and that she feels Volta is no more commercial than any of her previous work.
A wide array of artists collaborated with Björk on material for the album. Björk first contacted Timbaland about a possible collaboration in December 2005. The first session took place in February 2006 in Studio 4 at Manhattan Center Studios in New York City, USA, soon after Björk had visited Banda Aceh
in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami - in May 2005 Björk released the charity album Army of Me: Remixes and Covers
to help UNICEF's work in the south east Asian region. Björk's experiences in Indonesia led to the track "Earth Intruders
", originally a ten-minute jam which Björk then subsequently edited for the album version. Björk collaborated on seven tracks in total with Timbaland. Timbaland had stated that he intended one of the tracks he did with Björk to appear on his new solo album
but this did not materialise. The lead-off single from Volta, "Earth Intruders", is co-produced by Timbaland, as well as the second single "Innocence
"; the album track "Hope" is co-written by Timbaland. Björk has stated that the other Timbaland tracks are unlikely to ever be released.
Antony Hegarty
, frontman and lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons
, appears on the album for two duets—"The Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile". The collaborative sessions took place in Jamaica
.
Björk has also put together her own fourteen-piece brass
section of female Icelandic musicians who play on three tracks on the album. Its members comprise Sylvía Hlynsdóttir, Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir, Dröfn Helgadóttir, Valdís Þorkelsdóttir, Karen J. Sturlaugsson, Björk Níelsdóttir, Sigrún Jónsdóttir, Harpa Jóhannsdóttir, Vilborg Jónsdóttir, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Erla Axelsdóttir, Særún Pálmadóttir, Lilja Valdimarsdóttir and Brynja Guðmundsdóttir.
Other collaborators include American drummers Brian Chippendale
and Chris Corsano
, Malian kora
player Toumani Diabaté
, Congolese
ensemble Konono N°1
, Chinese pipa
player Min Xiao-Fen
, British electronic musician Mark Bell, Icelandic lyricist Sjón
programmer and engineer Damian Taylor and Estonia
n producer Michael Pärt
.
For this album, Björk used brass sounds for almost all the songs. These were sometimes sampled from Björk's previous project, "The Music From Drawing Restraint 9
", as in the case of "Vertebrae by Vertebrae". For the song "Pneumonia", Björk drew inspiration from her own bout with the disease and after an emotionally-moving viewing of the film Pan's Labyrinth
.
through an article in The Guardian
on March 11, 2007. On March 26, 2007, a distorted sample of the song was uploaded to the YouTube video sharing website as part of the viral marketing
campaign for the Volta album. A fifteen second sample of the track then appeared on the Rhino Records online ringtone website on April 1, 2007. The purchased ringtone featured a different clip (with different lyrics) to the one used in the online preview on the site; both audio samples were subsequently spread across music forums
. On April 3, 2007 it was reported that the Björk section of the Rhino Records online ringtone store had been removed. After a broadcast of the song on the internet radio station
WOXY on April 6, 2007 the song was made widely available across file-sharing networks
.
On April 7, 2007, the "Mark Stent
Extended Edit" was released on the Australian iTunes Store
; most other iTunes Stores made the single available on April 9, the official release date of the digital single. The album version of Earth Intruders (which differs from the iTunes Store version both in terms of mixing
and track length) was leaked to the internet on April 24, 2007 due to the full album being made available accidentally on the UK iTunes Store on April 23, 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date.
A digital-only
"Earth Intruders – Club Mixes" EP
was released on the iTunes Store in the US/UK on May 21, 2007. The European iTunes release contained only three of the original five tracks. It is only the second time (the first being Play Dead
) that an instrumental of a Björk track has been officially released. With this release, it was determined that "Earth Intruders" would have no physical release in any territory worldwide. Also, the Mark Stent mix was initially labelled as an "Extended Edit", but on May 23, 2007, was retitled to "Radio Edit"; the "xxxChange Mix" was retitled from the previous non-descriptive title "Earth Intruders Remix".
"Declare Independence" was originally an instrumental track by British musician and frequent musical collaborator Mark Bell, performed at his live shows as early as November 2006. Björk later added her vocals on top. The lyrics are dedicated to the Faroe Islands
and Greenland
.
Björk has described "Wanderlust" as being the heart of Volta, and has said that the song is about "the state of looking for something and almost knowing you're never going to find it" and that it makes fun of her hunger for "something new". It was released in the UK on 30 June. As Björk said in an interview for Harp
, "Things go in circles. Wanderlust, for example, is a sort of continuity of 'Hyperballad'."
The track titles were confirmed in an article on MTV, March 14, 2007, and confirmed in a post on sprk.nl, 20 March 2007. One other track, "Trance", is rumored to appear as a future b-side
. The track entitled "Vertebrae by Vertebrae" was retitled from the previous, "Energy". "Vertebrae by Vertebrae" and "Declare Independence
" use brass samples from Björk's previous project, the soundtrack album "The Music from Drawing Restraint 9
".
Björk said about the title of the album:
CD edition; a limited edition CD/DVD edition (featuring surround audio in DTS); and a double vinyl
edition. The UK and Japanese editions of the album feature the Mark Bell Mix of "I See Who You Are" as a bonus track. Later editions were released in regular jewelcases.
As part of the marketing campaign for the album, a series of cryptic videos were circulated on various websites, specifically via YouTube and MySpace. The videos contained distorted audio samples and snippets of the lyrics from some of the tracks on Volta. The videos were discovered on March 28, 2007, though one of the videos had been uploaded to YouTube as early as March 19, 2007. A mysterious MySpace profile (link) was then discovered on March 28, 2007 which featured another cryptic video and four new audio samples. The profile belonged to a fictitious "Gerome Voltaire" (a play on Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery) of the band "itshardtofindabandname" from Iceland. An article on Pitchfork Media
on March 29, 2007 later confirmed the authenticity of the viral marketing
campaign. A podcast
shot by Ragnheidur Gestsdóttir detailing the album's production was made available on iTunes
on April 10, 2007 - six episodes were made for download, though the final installment cuts out before the video ends. As of yet, the podcast has not been fixed by iTunes
.
, and includes two live concerts filmed in Paris and Reykjavík, remixes and videos from the Volta era and a live session at Olympic Studios in London. The release was originally announced as 'Volta Revisited' and rumoured to be released in March 2008, and some online music shops made the album available for pre-order, while the Olympic Studio session was originally announced on September 4, 2007 as the "Live Sessions Album". The Voltaïc release is available in five different editions, each featuring varying versions of the 'full' 2 CD and 2 DVD edition.
The release was subject to numerous delays, mostly due to manufacturing problems. The first mention of the release of live material from the Volta tour was made through an announcement made on Björk's official website regarding a "Live Session Album" made at the now-closed Olympic Studios. This was then followed by online stores adding to their pages a release titled "Volta Revisited" in February 2008, with projected (and incorrect) release dates of April/May 2008 listed. An email from Derek Birkett, head of One Little Indian, stated the proposed contents of the release, meant to 'tie-up' the Volta compaign. The release was originally not going to include a live DVD, but amongst those items that did not make the final release were the online blips made as part of the viral marketing
campaign for Volta, the EPK interview that was used in the Volta podcasts available on the iTunes Store
, and an unreleased "AOL Online session".
Björk then filmed a concert at L'Olympia in Paris, France during the last leg of the Volta tour and a small concert in Reykjavík
, Iceland straight after the tour had finished. The "Volta Revisited" collection eventually surfaced as Voltaïc and was to include a live DVD among 3 other discs, although manufacturing problems lead to a delay of up to six months for its release. One manufacturing error led to 20,000 copies of the box-set having to be destroyed, and with a remanufacture necessary, Björk decided to make changes to the track listing resulting in four songs being cut from the live DVD. Towards the end of April 2009 Universal Europe accidentally shipped their copies of Voltaïc early. A statement released by One Little Indian stated that the projected release date was meant to be June 2009 as they wanted all three versions of Voltaïc to be available upon official release - the early shipment by Universal Europe was only of the Deluxe Edition. However, UK-based music retailer CD Wow
was found to be for a brief period selling un-cut copies of the box set, before its official release. These copies, which had allegedly been destroyed, were manufactured in Malaysia - and as such contained more tracks than the other released (cut) editions. Voltaïc eventually enjoyed its full official release on June 23, 2009.
in promotion of the album. She performed the songs "Earth Intruders
" and "Wanderlust". On June 8, 2007 (recorded on June 5, 2007), Björk performed on the contemporary UK music show Later With Jools Holland
for the fifth time in her solo career. She performed the songs "Earth Intruders
", "The Anchor Song", and "Declare Independence
." On September 27, 2007, she appeared on the American late night
talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien
, performing the song "Wanderlust". This show was after her headlining performance at a sold out show at Madison Square Garden
.
The lead single from Volta was "Earth Intruders
", released digitally
on April 9, 2007, though leaked on April 6, 2007. Originally expected to be released as a physical single on May 21, 2007, the release was instead replaced by another digital release, "Earth Intruders - Club Mixes", via iTunes. Indeed, there were no chart eligible physical singles released at all during the Volta era, although box sets were eventually released of each single some months after the corresponding digital release.
The second single from Volta was originally meant to be "Declare Independence", but 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 Independence" with Michel Gondry
in London could not take place. The deadline for the music video contest for "Innocence" (originally announced on March 19, 2007) was then brought forward a month to June 10, 2007 so as to provide a finished video able to coincide with the July release originally planned for Declare Independence. "Innocence", the other Timbaland
-co-produced track, was released digitally across the globe on July 23, 2007. It was announced that the release would be available in the US on July 31, 2007, though this date was moved later.
"Declare Independence" was released as the third single from Volta on January 1, 2008. The video, directed by Michel Gondry
(his seventh video with Björk, and the first since 1997's Bachelorette
), was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007 and on Channel 4
in the UK on December 13, 2007. A making-of
was made available on November 29, 2007. The video shoot took place on October 11, 2007 in New York City. Unlike the first two singles from Volta, the single has a physical release in the form of two 12” Vinyls, a CD and a DVD.
Björk went on an 18 month tour in support of the album, which was her first tour in four years. On the tour, which was conducted on a month-on/month-off basis, Björk performed with fourteen musicians on stage. Björk's touring band for this tour constisted of drummer Chris Corsano, musician Mark Bell (who also accompanied Björk on the Homogenic tour), pianist Jónas Sen (who played celeste
on the tracks Gratitude and Cetacea on the Drawing Restraint 9 soundtrack), musician Damian Taylor and a 10 piece female Iceland
ic brass section. Timbaland did not join Björk on the tour. Björk had described the tour as "kind of primitive, raw, almost butch", in marked contrast to her 2001 tour for Vespertine. At several of the concerts Björk had been joined on stage by some of the musicians who collaborated on the album (but who are not part of the touring band), including Antony Hegarty, Min Xiao-Fen and Toumani Diabaté. Many of the live performances from the current tour can be viewed on the video sharing
website YouTube, shot by people in the audience. However, Björk has voiced her dislike of fans recording video
/taking pictures (with flash) at her concerts using their mobile phones ("little cameras"), stating that it affects her ability to perform. The tour is taking Björk to countries that she has not played in for over a decade, including Mexico, Brazil, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. Live footage of two concerts in Paris and Reykjavík, as well as a session with the tour band at Olympic Studios
, were released as part of the Voltaïc
box-set on June 23, 2009.
Although not part of her touring schedule, Björk performed three songs at a benefit concert at Club NASA in Reykjavík on April 1 for FORMA, an Icelandic organisation which deals with people who have eating disorders. Tour rehearsals began after this performance. Björk's touring schedule throughout 2007 and 2008 was as follows.
Björk has used live performances of "Declare Independence" to declare political support for various causes, often to some controversy. At two concerts in Tokyo, Japan she showed her support for Kosovo's declaration of independence
. When her upcoming performance at the 2008 Serbian EXIT Festival
was cancelled, Björk suggested that "Maybe a Serb attended my concert [in Tokyo] and called home, and therefore the concert in Novi Sad was cancelled." The organizer behind the EXIT Festival denied that Björk's cancellation from the festival was because of her song dedication to Kosovo; that it was actually their inability to guarantee the safety of her fans. Björk's management maintained that the cancellation was because of the dedication, claiming that they had received an email from EXIT Festival saying that they would only allow the concert to go ahead if Björk's management "denied that Björk has ever [dedicated the song to Kosovo]". On March 7, 2008 EXIT festival organiser Bojan Boscovic changed his position and told NME that Björk has an "open invitation" to play at the festival. Björk's dedicating of "Declare Independence" to the Faroe Islands
caused some minor controversy in the country.
At a concert in Shanghai, China on March 2, 2008 Björk shouted "Tibet, Tibet!" three times followed by "Raise your flag!" four times during the finale performance of "Declare Independence". Immediately there was an 'uneasy atmosphere' and fans left the venue quickly, and internet forums such as Tianya
fielded many negative comments on her statement. China's Ministry of Culture
issued a statement denouncing Björk's outburst, and warned that she would be banned from future appearances in China if she repeated such behavior. In an interview, Björk said that she did not "[plan] a trip to China with the purpose of... propaganda" and that Chinese officials "sensationalized" her performance. On July 17, 2008 the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced that artistic groups who "threaten national unity" or "whip up ethnic hatred" among other things during live events would be banned from performing. Fans of Oasis
and Bob Dylan
, who had previously performed in Tibetan Freedom Concert
s, blamed the new regulations for their subsequent denials of permission to perform in Chinese venues.
reviewer Mike Diver gave the song 9/10, praising it as "immediately catchy, compellingly left of centre, and undeniably unique". Digital Spy
reviewer Miriam Zendle cited "Earth Intruders" as returning to Björk's earlier commercial sound, comparing it to her more recent albums that were "incredibly difficult to grasp hold of". Music website Popjustice
called it the 80th greatest single of 2007. However, Volta also received some mixed reviews with Pitchfork Media
stating that Volta is mostly proof that Björk is as fallible as the messy, unpredictable humanity she celebrates, and that even her definition of 'pop' is avant-garde.
Volta spent nine weeks at number one on Billboards Top Electronic Albums
chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. It also managed to peak at number nine in the Billboard 200
charts, making it her highest charting album ever in the United States. Volta was also released by both Polydor and Universal in selected Asian countries including Japan
, South Korea
, China
, Hong Kong
and Indonesia
in which each country mentioned had a corresponding tour in 2008. In Japan, the album debuted at #12 in the Oricon
Weekly Albums Chart with 16,425 copies sold on its first week of release. The single "Earth Intruders" reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart
, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart
, while the remix EP later released charted on its own at #150. In the United States, the song debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
at number 84 in the issue dated April 28, 2007. This is Björk's highest position on the U.S. Hot 100, the previous being "Big Time Sensuality
" in 1993
, which peaked at number 88. The single's very modest success on the U.S. charts has been mainly attributed to internet downloads; the single sold 16,000 downloads on the week of its release, propelling it to number 65 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks
. The song also peaked at number 75 on the U.S. Billboard Pop 100
. 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 "Jóga
" in 1997 (the EP charted at #191 in 1998, however), and the second being "Oceania
" in 2004.
and is his first for Björk, or indeed anyone else. It features Björk's face floating in the background, first upside down, then upright, singing with her eyes closed. In the foreground, a large group of silhouette
d tribal warriors dance in time to the music. The video features psychedelic
colours and patterns imposed on an earthy backdrop. The video ends with Björk's face slowly fading into the middle of a glade, her eyes being opened just as she sings the last lyric. Ocelot stated that Björk had originally wanted Kirikou (the child-hero of Ocelot's Kirikou and the Sorceress
and Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages
) to be featured as a 20 year-old in the video. It was accomplished within strict time constraints through a combination of live-action, silhouette animation
, 3D computer graphics
, traditional animation
, cut-outs
and other special effect
s. "Kirikou" was danced by Legrand Bemba-Debert in a costume made, based on Ocelot's ideas, by paper sculptor
Anne-Lise Kœhler.
An exclusive preview was shown during the "Le Grand journal" show on French TV channel Canal+
on 17 April 2007. The full video was made available in the iTunes Store
on April 24, 2007. It is also viewable on Björk's official MySpace page and included in letterbox
ed 576p
"PAL" format on both the "Earth Intruders" and "Les Trésors cachés de Michel Ocelot" DVD-Video
s and in 480-line, "NTSC" format in the Voltaïc
box set. It was nominated for the 2007 Q Award
for Best Video.
A video was shot for the track "Wanderlust", directed by Encyclopedia Pictura and shot in New York City in stereoscopic 3D
. The video involves "a mixture of large scale puppeteering, live action acrobatics
, miniatures
, and CG
". The video and single were released in February 2008. The video was choreographed by Chris Elam, artistic director of Misnomer Dance, and features Brynne Billingsley and Coco Karol.
It was reported on the official site of Antony and the Johnsons
that Antony Hegarty and Björk had shot a video for "The Dull Flame of Desire". The news was subsequently removed from the site. Then Björk in a recent interview said that she and Antony have recorded themselves singing the song on a green screen, and that she sent the video to three directors of the Innocence video contest, and that they are doing the Dull Flame Of Desire video together via e-mail. Björk's official website finally confirmed "The Dull Flame of Desire" to be the fifth single from "Volta" on July 31, 2008, also crediting the following "Innocence" Competition Applicants as the promotional video's directors: Cristoph Jantos, Masahiro Mogari, and Marçal Cuberta Junca. The single will be released in a 2x12" CD/DVD Box Set on September 29, 2008.
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 Independence
" in London could not 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.
The military-themed video for "Declare Independence" was directed by French director Michel Gondry
. It is his seventh video with Björk, and the first since 1997's "Bachelorette
". In a press conference on March 22, 2007, Gondry stated that he would be shooting a video with Björk for an upcoming single, and though he did not specifically state which song it would be for, described his treatment as being for a "punk
" song. Later confirmation of the video being for "Declare Independence" was made in an article on Monsters and Critics
on May 8, 2007. The video shoot was originally going to take place in August 2007 in London (as was the projected single release) but the video shoot was eventually rescheduled to October 11, 2007 in New York City. The finished video was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007. A making-of
was made available on November 29, 2007. The video was premiered exclusively on Channel 4
in the UK on December 13, 2007. The video is also available on the DVD compilation Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1)
bonus track version
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...
, released in May 2007. It was produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
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. The full album was accidentally made available on the UK 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...
at midnight on April 23, 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date. This led to the album being leaked online the following day. It has been certified Silver in the United Kingdom.
The album attracted attention due to the inclusion of three tracks co-produced by R&B record producer Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
. Volta marked the first of several production collaborations between Timbaland and Björk, whom Björk would cite as a major influence on her musical career. The album was highly acclaimed on its initial release and continues to be praised by critics. Volta spent nine weeks at number one on Billboards Top Electronic Albums
Top Electronic Albums
Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five...
chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. The lead single, "Earth Intruders", reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...
, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, while the remix EP later released charted on its own at #150. In the United States, the song debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at number 84 in the issue dated April 28, 2007. Björk went on an 18 month tour in support of the album, which was her first tour in four years.
The album was re-released in June 2009 under the name Voltaïc. It refers to five separate releases of related material from Volta. The full version of the release will include a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
, a DVD of Björk's live performances in Paris and Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
during the Volta tour, a second DVD of the Volta music videos as well as videos of the top ten runners-up from the "Innocence
Innocence (Björk song)
"Innocence" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic 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...
" video contest, and a second CD of remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es from Voltas singles. The official worldwide release date of all editions was June 23, 2009. The artwork was nominated for an award at the 2010 Brit Insurance Design Awards.
Background and development
In an interview for daily Internet publication Pitchfork MediaPitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, Björk talked for the first time about the theme of the album.
In the run-up to the release of the album, many media outlets were lauding the album as a return to the supposed "pop" sound of Björk's earlier solo albums Debut and Post. This was due in part to the inclusion of three tracks co-produced by record producer Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
; in interviews before the album's release he had stated that seven of the tracks he worked with Björk on would end up on her album, seemingly indicating that there would be more of Timbaland's involvement on the record than there eventually was. At the time Timbaland had also had recent hits with Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
(SexyBack
SexyBack
"SexyBack" is a song by American recording artist Justin Timberlake from his second studio album, FutureSex/LoveSounds . It was released on July 7, 2006, by Jive Records as the lead single from the album...
) and Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
(Promiscuous
Promiscuous (song)
"Promiscuous" is a dance-pop/R&B song by Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado, from the album, Loose . It was written by Furtado, Timothy "Attitude" Clayton, Timbaland and Nate "Danja" Hills, with the latter pair handling production of the song...
and Maneater
Maneater
-Music:* "Maneater" , a 1982 single by Daryl Hall and John Oates* "Maneater" , a 2006 single by Nelly Furtado-Film and television:* Maneater , a 2007 U.S...
), with him and his protégé Danja being responsible for some of the biggest hits of 2006 and 2007. As the news of Björk having worked with Timbaland spread across the internet, many websites started speculating on whether the album would be "hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
" flavoured; in one interview Timbaland himself referred to the upcoming album as "hip hop".
The online music magazine Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
, in their exclusive first interview with Björk for the promotion of Volta, quoted Björk as saying that the new album would be "full-bodied and really up". This was taken by fans as further evidence of a more "pop" album (as compared to her more recent output). A week later the head of Björk's record company, Derek Birkett, heralded the new album as "the most commercial thing she's ever done" in Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
, the trade paper for the UK record industry.
Björk has since stated that the media effectively "got it wrong" with regard to their coverage of the album, insisting that the album was not "hip hop" (and that she had not intended for it to be so either). She said that she did not want to work with Timbaland as a "hitmaker
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
", or because of his affiliation to a particular genre, but wanted to work with him solely as a musician in his own right. She has also said that One Little Indian "always feel that ‘my latest release is the most commercial to date’", and that she feels Volta is no more commercial than any of her previous work.
Recording and production
Banda Aceh
Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra, with an elevation of 35 meters. The city regency covers an area of 64 square kilometres and according to the 2000 census had a population of 219,070 people...
in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami - in May 2005 Björk released the charity album Army of Me: Remixes and Covers
Army of Me: Remixes and Covers
- Charts :- External links :*...
to help UNICEF's work in the south east Asian region. Björk's experiences in Indonesia led to the track "Earth Intruders
Earth Intruders
"Earth Intruders" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The song was released as the first single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released digitally in the USA on 9 April and 21 April 2007 and in Europe on 28 April 2007. It is produced by R&B...
", originally a ten-minute jam which Björk then subsequently edited for the album version. Björk collaborated on seven tracks in total with Timbaland. Timbaland had stated that he intended one of the tracks he did with Björk to appear on his new solo album
Timbaland Presents Shock Value
Shock Value, is the second solo studio album, and fifth album overall, by record producer and rapper Timbaland. It is Timbaland's first release on his own imprint, the Interscope Records-distributed Mosley Music Group. Shock Value features a long list of guest artists, among them Fall Out Boy,...
but this did not materialise. The lead-off single from Volta, "Earth Intruders", is co-produced by Timbaland, as well as the second single "Innocence
Innocence (Björk song)
"Innocence" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic 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...
"; the album track "Hope" is co-written by Timbaland. Björk has stated that the other Timbaland tracks are unlikely to ever be released.
Antony Hegarty
Antony Hegarty
Antony Hegarty is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.-Early life:...
, frontman and lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...
, appears on the album for two duets—"The Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile". The collaborative sessions took place in Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
Björk has also put together her own fourteen-piece brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
section of female Icelandic musicians who play on three tracks on the album. Its members comprise Sylvía Hlynsdóttir, Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir, Dröfn Helgadóttir, Valdís Þorkelsdóttir, Karen J. Sturlaugsson, Björk Níelsdóttir, Sigrún Jónsdóttir, Harpa Jóhannsdóttir, Vilborg Jónsdóttir, Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir, Erla Axelsdóttir, Særún Pálmadóttir, Lilja Valdimarsdóttir and Brynja Guðmundsdóttir.
Other collaborators include American drummers Brian Chippendale
Brian Chippendale
Brian Chippendale is a musician and artist based in Providence, Rhode Island. Chippendale is best known as the drummer/vocalist for the bands Lightning Bolt and Mindflayer . He also plays saxophone and drums in a solo project called Black Pus...
and Chris Corsano
Chris Corsano
Chris Corsano is a drummer from New England, USA. He often performs in an improvisation duo with saxophonist Paul Flaherty. He has also recorded material with artists such as Evan Parker, Dredd Foole, Sunburned Hand of the Man, Six Organs of Admittance, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Matt Valentine,...
, Malian kora
Kora (instrument)
The kora is a 21-string bridge-harp used extensively in West Africa.-Description:A kora is built from a large calabash cut in half and covered with cow skin to make a resonator, and has a notched bridge. It does not fit well into any one category of western instruments and would have to be...
player Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté
Toumani Diabaté is a Malian kora player. In addition to performing the traditional music of Mali, he has also been involved in cross-cultural collaborations with flamenco, blues, jazz, and other international styles.-Biography:...
, Congolese
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
ensemble Konono N°1
Konono N°1
Konono Nº1 is a Grammy nominated musical group from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. They combine three electric likembé with voices, dancers, and percussion instruments that are made out of items salvaged from a junkyard...
, Chinese pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
player Min Xiao-Fen
Min Xiao-Fen
Min Xiaofen is a Chinese pipa player and vocalist, known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz.She studied with her father, Min Ji-Qian, a professor and pipa instructor at Nanjing University, and performed as pipa soloist for the Nanjing National Music...
, British electronic musician Mark Bell, Icelandic lyricist Sjón
Sjón
Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson , known as Sjón , is an internationally known Icelandic author and poet. His pen name is formed from his given name , and means 'Sight'....
programmer and engineer Damian Taylor and Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n producer Michael Pärt
Michael Pärt
Michael Pärt, sometimes spelled "Michael Paert", "Michael Part", and "Mikael Pärt" , is a music producer and co-founded and chairs International Arvo Pärt Centre...
.
For this album, Björk used brass sounds for almost all the songs. These were sometimes sampled from Björk's previous project, "The Music From Drawing Restraint 9
Drawing Restraint 9 (album)
The Music from Drawing Restraint 9 is a soundtrack created by Björk in collaboration with her partner Matthew Barney for his film of the same title. For this project Björk traveled to Japan to study ancient Japanese music...
", as in the case of "Vertebrae by Vertebrae". For the song "Pneumonia", Björk drew inspiration from her own bout with the disease and after an emotionally-moving viewing of the film Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth
Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 Spanish Spanish-language dark fantasy film, written and directed by Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro. It was produced and distributed by the Mexican film company Esperanto Films...
.
Composition
The first mention of "Earth Intruders" as a song title was made on allaccess.com on March 10, 2007, and was later confirmed as the lead singleLead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
through an article in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
on March 11, 2007. On March 26, 2007, a distorted sample of the song was uploaded to the YouTube video sharing website as part of the viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
campaign for the Volta album. A fifteen second sample of the track then appeared on the Rhino Records online ringtone website on April 1, 2007. The purchased ringtone featured a different clip (with different lyrics) to the one used in the online preview on the site; both audio samples were subsequently spread across music forums
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
. On April 3, 2007 it was reported that the Björk section of the Rhino Records online ringtone store had been removed. After a broadcast of the song on the internet radio station
Internet radio
Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
WOXY on April 6, 2007 the song was made widely available across file-sharing networks
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
.
On April 7, 2007, the "Mark Stent
Mark Stent
Mark '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,...
Extended Edit" was released on the Australian 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...
; most other iTunes Stores made the single available on April 9, the official release date of the digital single. The album version of Earth Intruders (which differs from the iTunes Store version both in terms of mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and track length) was leaked to the internet on April 24, 2007 due to the full album being made available accidentally on the UK iTunes Store on April 23, 2007 for a total of six hours, two weeks before the album's official release date.
A digital-only
Online 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...
"Earth Intruders – Club Mixes" 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 in the US/UK on May 21, 2007. The European iTunes release contained only three of the original five tracks. It is only the second time (the first being Play Dead
Play Dead (song)
"Play Dead" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk, and was released as the third single from her 1993 album Debut.-Background:It is a dark piece underscored by moody strings with lyrics about acting numb to prevent emotional pain....
) that an instrumental of a Björk track has been officially released. With this release, it was determined that "Earth Intruders" would have no physical release in any territory worldwide. Also, the Mark Stent mix was initially labelled as an "Extended Edit", but on May 23, 2007, was retitled to "Radio Edit"; the "xxxChange Mix" was retitled from the previous non-descriptive title "Earth Intruders Remix".
"Declare Independence" was originally an instrumental track by British musician and frequent musical collaborator Mark Bell, performed at his live shows as early as November 2006. Björk later added her vocals on top. The lyrics are dedicated to the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
and Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
.
Björk has described "Wanderlust" as being the heart of Volta, and has said that the song is about "the state of looking for something and almost knowing you're never going to find it" and that it makes fun of her hunger for "something new". It was released in the UK on 30 June. As Björk said in an interview for Harp
HARP (magazine)
Harp was a print and online magazine that provided in-depth information on current music, mainly the adult album alternative genre, which encompasses a large variety of music...
, "Things go in circles. Wanderlust, for example, is a sort of continuity of 'Hyperballad'."
Release and album title
Björk has since said that "Initially after its release, I felt Volta was just OK", and that she regards the tour versions of the songs as better than those found on the album - in this sense the live recordings released on Voltaïc are to be seen as the true version of the album.The track titles were confirmed in an article on MTV, March 14, 2007, and confirmed in a post on sprk.nl, 20 March 2007. One other track, "Trance", is rumored to appear as a future b-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
. The track entitled "Vertebrae by Vertebrae" was retitled from the previous, "Energy". "Vertebrae by Vertebrae" and "Declare Independence
Declare 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...
" use brass samples from Björk's previous project, the soundtrack album "The Music from Drawing Restraint 9
Drawing Restraint 9 (album)
The Music from Drawing Restraint 9 is a soundtrack created by Björk in collaboration with her partner Matthew Barney for his film of the same title. For this project Björk traveled to Japan to study ancient Japanese music...
".
Björk said about the title of the album:
Release formats
Volta was released in three editions in the UK: a digipakDigipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
CD edition; a limited edition CD/DVD edition (featuring surround audio in DTS); and a double vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
edition. The UK and Japanese editions of the album feature the Mark Bell Mix of "I See Who You Are" as a bonus track. Later editions were released in regular jewelcases.
As part of the marketing campaign for the album, a series of cryptic videos were circulated on various websites, specifically via YouTube and MySpace. The videos contained distorted audio samples and snippets of the lyrics from some of the tracks on Volta. The videos were discovered on March 28, 2007, though one of the videos had been uploaded to YouTube as early as March 19, 2007. A mysterious MySpace profile (link) was then discovered on March 28, 2007 which featured another cryptic video and four new audio samples. The profile belonged to a fictitious "Gerome Voltaire" (a play on Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery) of the band "itshardtofindabandname" from Iceland. An article on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
on March 29, 2007 later confirmed the authenticity of the viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
campaign. A podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
shot by Ragnheidur Gestsdóttir detailing the album's production was made available on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
on April 10, 2007 - six episodes were made for download, though the final installment cuts out before the video ends. As of yet, the podcast has not been fixed by iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
Voltaïc edition
A special edition of the album was released on June 23, 2009 as VoltaïcVoltaic
Voltaïc refers to five separate releases of related material from singer-songwriter Björk's sixth studio album Volta. The full version of the release will include a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios, a DVD of Björk's live performances in Paris and Reykjavík during the Volta tour,...
, and includes two live concerts filmed in Paris and Reykjavík, remixes and videos from the Volta era and a live session at Olympic Studios in London. The release was originally announced as 'Volta Revisited' and rumoured to be released in March 2008, and some online music shops made the album available for pre-order, while the Olympic Studio session was originally announced on September 4, 2007 as the "Live Sessions Album". The Voltaïc release is available in five different editions, each featuring varying versions of the 'full' 2 CD and 2 DVD edition.
The release was subject to numerous delays, mostly due to manufacturing problems. The first mention of the release of live material from the Volta tour was made through an announcement made on Björk's official website regarding a "Live Session Album" made at the now-closed Olympic Studios. This was then followed by online stores adding to their pages a release titled "Volta Revisited" in February 2008, with projected (and incorrect) release dates of April/May 2008 listed. An email from Derek Birkett, head of One Little Indian, stated the proposed contents of the release, meant to 'tie-up' the Volta compaign. The release was originally not going to include a live DVD, but amongst those items that did not make the final release were the online blips made as part of the viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
campaign for Volta, the EPK interview that was used in the Volta podcasts available 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...
, and an unreleased "AOL Online session".
Björk then filmed a concert at L'Olympia in Paris, France during the last leg of the Volta tour and a small concert in Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, Iceland straight after the tour had finished. The "Volta Revisited" collection eventually surfaced as Voltaïc and was to include a live DVD among 3 other discs, although manufacturing problems lead to a delay of up to six months for its release. One manufacturing error led to 20,000 copies of the box-set having to be destroyed, and with a remanufacture necessary, Björk decided to make changes to the track listing resulting in four songs being cut from the live DVD. Towards the end of April 2009 Universal Europe accidentally shipped their copies of Voltaïc early. A statement released by One Little Indian stated that the projected release date was meant to be June 2009 as they wanted all three versions of Voltaïc to be available upon official release - the early shipment by Universal Europe was only of the Deluxe Edition. However, UK-based music retailer CD Wow
CD WOW!
CD WOW! is an online retailer, offering Games, CD, DVD, Books and Cosmetics. Similar to Amazon.com, it offers websites in and ships from multiple countries including: UK, USA, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Japan and Germany. Started...
was found to be for a brief period selling un-cut copies of the box set, before its official release. These copies, which had allegedly been destroyed, were manufactured in Malaysia - and as such contained more tracks than the other released (cut) editions. Voltaïc eventually enjoyed its full official release on June 23, 2009.
Promotion
On April 21, 2007, Björk appeared as musical guest on an episode of the US comedy-variety show Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in promotion of the album. She performed the songs "Earth Intruders
Earth Intruders
"Earth Intruders" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The song was released as the first single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released digitally in the USA on 9 April and 21 April 2007 and in Europe on 28 April 2007. It is produced by R&B...
" and "Wanderlust". On June 8, 2007 (recorded on June 5, 2007), Björk performed on the contemporary UK music show Later With Jools Holland
Later with Jools Holland
Later... with Jools Holland is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jools Holland. A spin-off of The Late Show, it has been running in short series since 1992 and is a part of BBC Two's late-night line-up, usually at around 11pm to 12 midnight...
for the fifth time in her solo career. She performed the songs "Earth Intruders
Earth Intruders
"Earth Intruders" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The song was released as the first single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released digitally in the USA on 9 April and 21 April 2007 and in Europe on 28 April 2007. It is produced by R&B...
", "The Anchor Song", and "Declare Independence
Declare 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...
." On September 27, 2007, she appeared on the American late night
Late night television
Late night television in the United States is the block of television programming airing after 11:00 pm and usually through 2:00 am. Traditionally, this type of programming airs after the late local news and is most notable for being the daypart used for a particular genre of programming that falls...
talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
, performing the song "Wanderlust". This show was after her headlining performance at a sold out show at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
.
The lead single from Volta was "Earth Intruders
Earth Intruders
"Earth Intruders" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The song was released as the first single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released digitally in the USA on 9 April and 21 April 2007 and in Europe on 28 April 2007. It is produced by R&B...
", released digitally
Online 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...
on April 9, 2007, though leaked on April 6, 2007. Originally expected to be released as a physical single on May 21, 2007, the release was instead replaced by another digital release, "Earth Intruders - Club Mixes", via iTunes. Indeed, there were no chart eligible physical singles released at all during the Volta era, although box sets were eventually released of each single some months after the corresponding digital release.
The second single from Volta was originally meant to be "Declare Independence", but 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 Independence" with Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
in London could not take place. The deadline for the music video contest for "Innocence" (originally announced on March 19, 2007) was then brought forward a month to June 10, 2007 so as to provide a finished video able to coincide with the July release originally planned for Declare Independence. "Innocence", the other Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
-co-produced track, was released digitally across the globe on July 23, 2007. It was announced that the release would be available in the US on July 31, 2007, though this date was moved later.
"Declare Independence" was released as the third single from Volta on January 1, 2008. The video, directed by Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
(his seventh video with Björk, and the first since 1997's Bachelorette
Bachelorette (song)
"Bachelorette" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1997 album Homogenic.The song was originally written for a film by Bernardo Bertolucci, but the project was withdrawn...
), was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007 and on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the UK on December 13, 2007. A making-of
Making-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
was made available on November 29, 2007. The video shoot took place on October 11, 2007 in New York City. Unlike the first two singles from Volta, the single has a physical release in the form of two 12” Vinyls, a CD and a DVD.
Volta tour
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
on the tracks Gratitude and Cetacea on the Drawing Restraint 9 soundtrack), musician Damian Taylor and a 10 piece female Iceland
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 brass section. Timbaland did not join Björk on the tour. Björk had described the tour as "kind of primitive, raw, almost butch", in marked contrast to her 2001 tour for Vespertine. At several of the concerts Björk had been joined on stage by some of the musicians who collaborated on the album (but who are not part of the touring band), including Antony Hegarty, Min Xiao-Fen and Toumani Diabaté. Many of the live performances from the current tour can be viewed on the 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 YouTube, shot by people in the audience. However, Björk has voiced her dislike of fans recording video
Camera phone
A camera phone is a mobile phone which is able to capture still photographs . Since early in the 21st century the majority of mobile phones in use are camera phones....
/taking pictures (with flash) at her concerts using their mobile phones ("little cameras"), stating that it affects her ability to perform. The tour is taking Björk to countries that she has not played in for over a decade, including Mexico, Brazil, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. Live footage of two concerts in Paris and Reykjavík, as well as a session with the tour band at Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
, were released as part of the Voltaïc
Voltaic
Voltaïc refers to five separate releases of related material from singer-songwriter Björk's sixth studio album Volta. The full version of the release will include a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios, a DVD of Björk's live performances in Paris and Reykjavík during the Volta tour,...
box-set on June 23, 2009.
Although not part of her touring schedule, Björk performed three songs at a benefit concert at Club NASA in Reykjavík on April 1 for FORMA, an Icelandic organisation which deals with people who have eating disorders. Tour rehearsals began after this performance. Björk's touring schedule throughout 2007 and 2008 was as follows.
Björk has used live performances of "Declare Independence" to declare political support for various causes, often to some controversy. At two concerts in Tokyo, Japan she showed her support for Kosovo's declaration of independence
2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...
. When her upcoming performance at the 2008 Serbian EXIT Festival
EXIT (festival)
Exit is an annual summer music festival in the Petrovaradin Fortress of Novi Sad, Serbia. It is staged annually since 2000 and usually lasts four days ....
was cancelled, Björk suggested that "Maybe a Serb attended my concert [in Tokyo] and called home, and therefore the concert in Novi Sad was cancelled." The organizer behind the EXIT Festival denied that Björk's cancellation from the festival was because of her song dedication to Kosovo; that it was actually their inability to guarantee the safety of her fans. Björk's management maintained that the cancellation was because of the dedication, claiming that they had received an email from EXIT Festival saying that they would only allow the concert to go ahead if Björk's management "denied that Björk has ever [dedicated the song to Kosovo]". On March 7, 2008 EXIT festival organiser Bojan Boscovic changed his position and told NME that Björk has an "open invitation" to play at the festival. Björk's dedicating of "Declare Independence" to the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
caused some minor controversy in the country.
At a concert in Shanghai, China on March 2, 2008 Björk shouted "Tibet, Tibet!" three times followed by "Raise your flag!" four times during the finale performance of "Declare Independence". Immediately there was an 'uneasy atmosphere' and fans left the venue quickly, and internet forums such as Tianya
Tianya Club
Tianya Club is an Internet forum in China; currently it is the 12th most visited site in the People's Republic of China and 72nd overall. It was founded on 14 February 1999.It provides BBS, blog, microblog and photo album services....
fielded many negative comments on her statement. China's Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Culture is a ministry of the government of the People's Republic of China which is responsible for culture policy and activities in the country, including managing national museums and monuments; Astroturfing and promoting government policies; promoting and protecting the arts The...
issued a statement denouncing Björk's outburst, and warned that she would be banned from future appearances in China if she repeated such behavior. In an interview, Björk said that she did not "[plan] a trip to China with the purpose of... propaganda" and that Chinese officials "sensationalized" her performance. On July 17, 2008 the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced that artistic groups who "threaten national unity" or "whip up ethnic hatred" among other things during live events would be banned from performing. Fans of Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
and Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, who had previously performed in Tibetan Freedom Concert
Tibetan Freedom Concert
Tibetan Freedom Concert is the name given to a series of rock festivals held in North America, Europe and Asia between 1996 and 2001 to support the cause of Tibetan independence. The concerts were organized by the Beastie Boys and the Milarepa Fund...
s, blamed the new regulations for their subsequent denials of permission to perform in Chinese venues.
Reception
According to Metacritic, the album holds a rating of 77/100, indicating favorable reviews, with Allmusic stating that Volta finds the perfect balance between her (Björk's) poppier work in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s. Arwa Haider also stated that this (Volta) is arguably (Björk's) strongest album yet, while Priya Elan praised the album as another amazing statement of intent-full of hope, eccenticity and wonderfulness. Michael Keefe, in a more balanced review, said that Volta is not a great album, but it is quite good. The song "Earth Intruders" got favourable reception by music critics. Drowned in SoundDrowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
reviewer Mike Diver gave the song 9/10, praising it as "immediately catchy, compellingly left of centre, and undeniably unique". Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
reviewer Miriam Zendle cited "Earth Intruders" as returning to Björk's earlier commercial sound, comparing it to her more recent albums that were "incredibly difficult to grasp hold of". Music website Popjustice
Popjustice
Popjustice is a music website founded in 2000 and is the work of UK freelance music journalist Peter Robinson, who has worked for NME, The Guardian, Attitude and many others....
called it the 80th greatest single of 2007. However, Volta also received some mixed reviews with Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
stating that Volta is mostly proof that Björk is as fallible as the messy, unpredictable humanity she celebrates, and that even her definition of 'pop' is avant-garde.
Volta spent nine weeks at number one on Billboards Top Electronic Albums
Top Electronic Albums
Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five...
chart and in the first three months of release sold over half a million copies worldwide. It also managed to peak at number nine in the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
charts, making it her highest charting album ever in the United States. Volta was also released by both Polydor and Universal in selected Asian countries including Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in which each country mentioned had a corresponding tour in 2008. In Japan, the album debuted at #12 in the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
Weekly Albums Chart with 16,425 copies sold on its first week of release. The single "Earth Intruders" reached number 67 on the UK Official Download Chart
UK Official Download Chart
The UK Official Download Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the music industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being published on a Wednesday afternoon, so as to not to clash with the release of the main UK Singles Chart...
, and number 78 on the main UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, while the remix EP later released charted on its own at #150. In the United States, the song debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at number 84 in the issue dated April 28, 2007. This is Björk's highest position on the U.S. Hot 100, the previous being "Big Time Sensuality
Big Time Sensuality
"Big Time Sensuality" is a song by Björk, released as the fourth single from her 1993 album Debut. The song helped boost Björk's popularity worldwide, particularly the U.S., where she charted for the first time.-Background:...
" in 1993
1993 in music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993.-January–February:*January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992....
, which peaked at number 88. The single's very modest success on the U.S. charts has been mainly attributed to internet downloads; the single sold 16,000 downloads on the week of its release, propelling it to number 65 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Tracks
Hot Digital Tracks
The Hot Digital Tracks chart is a song popularity chart that ranks the best selling digital tracks in the United States according to Billboard magazine...
. The song also peaked at number 75 on the U.S. Billboard Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
. 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 "Jóga
Jóga
"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.
Music videos
The music video for "Earth Intruders" was directed by Michel OcelotMichel Ocelot
Michel Ocelot is a French writer, character designer, storyboard artist and director of animated films and television programs and a former president of the International Animated Film Association...
and is his first for Björk, or indeed anyone else. It features Björk's face floating in the background, first upside down, then upright, singing with her eyes closed. In the foreground, a large group of silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
d tribal warriors dance in time to the music. The video features psychedelic
Psychedelic
The term psychedelic is derived from the Greek words ψυχή and δηλοῦν , translating to "soul-manifesting". A psychedelic experience is characterized by the striking perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly...
colours and patterns imposed on an earthy backdrop. The video ends with Björk's face slowly fading into the middle of a glade, her eyes being opened just as she sings the last lyric. Ocelot stated that Björk had originally wanted Kirikou (the child-hero of Ocelot's Kirikou and the Sorceress
Kirikou and the Sorceress
Kirikou and the Sorceress is a 1998 Franco-Belgian animated film written and directed by Michel Ocelot. Drawn directly from West African folk tales, it tells of how a newborn boy saves his village by ridding them of the evil witch Karaba...
and Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages
Kirikou et les bêtes sauvages
is a 2005 French animated feature film. It premiered at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival on 13 May and, unlike its predecessor, received only festival screenings in all English-speaking territories...
) to be featured as a 20 year-old in the video. It was accomplished within strict time constraints through a combination of live-action, silhouette animation
Silhouette animation
Silhouette animation is animation in which the characters are only visible as black silhouettes. This is usually accomplished by backlighting articulated cardboard cut-outs, though other methods exist...
, 3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
, traditional animation
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
, cut-outs
Cutout animation
Cutout animation is a technique for producing animations using flat characters, props and backgrounds cut from materials such as paper, card, stiff fabric or even photographs...
and other special effect
Special effect
The illusions used in the film, television, theatre, or entertainment industries to simulate the imagined events in a story are traditionally called special effects ....
s. "Kirikou" was danced by Legrand Bemba-Debert in a costume made, based on Ocelot's ideas, by paper sculptor
Soft sculpture
Soft sculpture is a type of sculpture made using cloth, foam rubber, plastic, paper, fibers and similar material that are supple and nonrigid....
Anne-Lise Kœhler.
An exclusive preview was shown during the "Le Grand journal" show on French TV channel Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...
on 17 April 2007. The full video was made available in 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...
on April 24, 2007. It is also viewable on Björk's official MySpace page and included in letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
ed 576p
576p
576p is the shorthand name for a video display resolution. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced, the 576 for a vertical resolution of 576 lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 720 or 704 pixels. The frame rate can be given explicitly after the letter.-576p25:In other...
"PAL" format on both the "Earth Intruders" and "Les Trésors cachés de Michel Ocelot" DVD-Video
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
s and in 480-line, "NTSC" format in the Voltaïc
Voltaic
Voltaïc refers to five separate releases of related material from singer-songwriter Björk's sixth studio album Volta. The full version of the release will include a CD of 11 songs performed live at the Olympic Studios, a DVD of Björk's live performances in Paris and Reykjavík during the Volta tour,...
box set. It was nominated for the 2007 Q Award
Q Awards
The Q Awards are the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine Q. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards have become one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards, helped in no small part by the often boisterous behavior of the celebrities who attend the event...
for Best Video.
Stereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
. The video involves "a mixture of large scale puppeteering, live action acrobatics
Acrobatics
Acrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
, miniatures
Scale model
A scale model is a physical model, a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object, which seeks to maintain the relative proportions of the physical size of the original object. Very often the scale model is used as a guide to making the object in...
, and CG
CG
CG, Cg or cg may stand for:*Airlines PNG IATA code*Categorial grammar*Constraint grammar*Carnival Games, a video game for Wii and Nintendo DS*Center of gravity*Centigram , a unit of mass in the metric system...
". The video and single were released in February 2008. The video was choreographed by Chris Elam, artistic director of Misnomer Dance, and features Brynne Billingsley and Coco Karol.
It was reported on the official site of Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons
Antony and the Johnsons is a music group presenting the work of Antony Hegarty and his collaborators.-Career:British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released...
that Antony Hegarty and Björk had shot a video for "The Dull Flame of Desire". The news was subsequently removed from the site. Then Björk in a recent interview said that she and Antony have recorded themselves singing the song on a green screen, and that she sent the video to three directors of the Innocence video contest, and that they are doing the Dull Flame Of Desire video together via e-mail. Björk's official website finally confirmed "The Dull Flame of Desire" to be the fifth single from "Volta" on July 31, 2008, also crediting the following "Innocence" Competition Applicants as the promotional video's directors: Cristoph Jantos, Masahiro Mogari, and Marçal Cuberta Junca. The single will be released in a 2x12" CD/DVD Box Set on September 29, 2008.
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 Independence
Declare 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 could not 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
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 duo known only as Fred & Annabelle, were chosen.
The military-themed video for "Declare Independence" was directed by French director Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
. It is his seventh video with Björk, and the first since 1997's "Bachelorette
Bachelorette (song)
"Bachelorette" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1997 album Homogenic.The song was originally written for a film by Bernardo Bertolucci, but the project was withdrawn...
". In a press conference on March 22, 2007, Gondry stated that he would be shooting a video with Björk for an upcoming single, and though he did not specifically state which song it would be for, described his treatment as being for a "punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
" song. Later confirmation of the video being for "Declare Independence" was made in an article on Monsters and Critics
Monsters and Critics
Monsters and Critics is a web-only entertainment/celebrity news and review publication with movie, DVD, video game, and music reviews, along with political commentary as well as coverage of world news, technology, sports, and science.- Background :...
on May 8, 2007. The video shoot was originally going to take place in August 2007 in London (as was the projected single release) but the video shoot was eventually rescheduled to October 11, 2007 in New York City. The finished video was premiered on AOL on 6 December 2007. A making-of
Making-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
was made available on November 29, 2007. The video was premiered exclusively on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the UK on December 13, 2007. The video is also available on the DVD compilation Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1)
Michel Gondry 2: More Videos (Before and After DVD 1)
Michel Gondry 2: More Videos is a DVD compilation of music videos and short films by director Michel Gondry. It was released in April 2009 and includes videos which were not included on Gondry's Directors Label DVD. The compilation includes nearly three hours of videos and never-before-seen...
Track listing
iTunesITunes 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...
bonus track version
- "Earth IntrudersEarth Intruders"Earth Intruders" is a song written and recorded by Icelandic singer Björk. The song was released as the first single from her sixth full-length studio album, Volta. The single was released digitally in the USA on 9 April and 21 April 2007 and in Europe on 28 April 2007. It is produced by R&B...
" (Extended Mark "Spike" Stent Mix) – 4:26
- * On some releases the outros to most of the songs are placed as the intros to others. Only tracks 3, 4, 7 and 10 remain the same on all versions.
Charts
| Chart | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Irish Top 75 Albums | 10 |
| Japanese Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Albums Chart |
12 |
| Mexican AMPROFON AMPROFON Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas is a non-profit organization integrated by multinational and national record companies in Mexico. Established on April 3, 1963, it groups phonographic companies that represent more than 70 percent of the market in Mexico... Albums Chart |
6 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... Albums Chart |
32 |
| Switzerland Albums Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
9 |
| Taiwanese G-Music Western Albums Chart | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
9 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums Top Electronic Albums Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five... |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Rock Albums | 2 |
Release history
Release information are obtained as follows:| Region | Date | Distributing Label |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... |
May 1, 2007 | Universal Music Universal Music Group Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations... |
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
May 2, 2007 | Polydor, Universal Music Japan |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
May 7, 2007 | One Little Indian One Little Indian Records One Little Indian Records is a London-based independent record label that rose from the ashes of punk record company Spiderleg Records. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarchist punk bands, and managed by ex-Flux of Pink Indians Derek Birkett. The first success came with A.R. Kane and... |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
May 8, 2007 | Elektra Elektra Records Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009.... , Atlantic Atlantic Records Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz... , Warner Warner Music Group Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... |
| Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
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| Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour... |
Universal Music | |
| Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea... |
May 10, 2007 | |
| Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... |
May 15, 2007 | Polydor, Universal Music |
| South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south... |
May 16, 2007 |
External links
- Volta at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
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