Dispatches from the Fury Road: Bjork

She’s definitely not for everyone.

When I was younger, I would never have declared myself a Bjork fan, although there were songs of hers I liked. This was back in the day when there were only four TV stations, and a few radio stations per city. One of the flaws in modern living is that due to everything we want being a thumb press away, we’re not exposed to different types of art and entertainment. When you once watched Video Hits, you often had to endure music clips that weren’t for you. Sometimes that meant you would discover artists that you weren’t a fan of had songs you liked. I wasn’t into Madonna but I love Deeper and Deeper.

It was in this world that I liked some of Bjork’s music and film clips, but I didn’t own any of her albums on CD, cassette, or old school vinyl.

In 2008 I attended the Big Day Out in Melbourne. That year Rage Against the Machine were headlining, Silverchair were touring their Young Modern album, and Arcade Fire had just consolidated their status with Neon Bible. It was a line-up that appealed to me and I was keen to see all those bands live.

And of course, Bjork was appearing too.

I was curious to see her perform live even though my mates had other plans. I admired that she didn’t play the fame game. When she wore the infamous Swan Dress at the 2001 Academy Awards, she was widely mocked by the mainstream press. I thought it was fantastic, deliberately evocative and funny. This dress was parodied on the Ellen Show, White Chicks and Hannah Montana. I find it a relief I was on the opposite side to these bastions of class and intellect.

When her set commenced with an Icelandic choral piece called Brennið Þið Vitar I was immediately hooked. There was a sudden sensation of entering an alien world with a piece of music that didn’t sound like anything else at the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. I find it exciting when I come into contact with something beyond the norm, and this had the hairs on my arms standing to attention. From there she launched into Earth Intruders, and I was lost for the rest of her set. The tribal beat that couldn’t cage her powerful voice was overwhelming. My emotional responses kept rising, flooding me physically, wave after wave forcing me to dance like there was no tomorrow. It felt like I was on drugs, and trust me, I was as straight and sober as a Mormon door knocking on a warm Sunday morning.

Watching Bjork that day was like witnessing an atom bomb detonating over and over again. This tiny woman, barely moving, commanding the stage. I was mesmerised. Songs I had once liked I now loved. Hyperballad and Army of Me resonated on another plane of existence. Unravel felt like the most beautiful song I had truly heard. Words along can’t do describe the way Bachelorette brought on my synaesthesia in deep reds and purple, spreading out across the crowd, buffeting every molecule in my body. The drama of this particular song was intoxicating, and to this day is one of my favourite live moments.

By the time she finished I was exhausted. She also ruined the rest of the BDO for me. I’d peaked and was ready to go home. I caught up with my friends later who seemed bemused by my reaction. You could see in their eyes that it was another “here goes Hammo banging on about something that was probably fine” moment for them. I didn’t care. I was comfortable marinating on my own to this almost religious experience.

I’ve been a fan ever since. Sometimes she produces albums that I have to work at to understand. Like playing jumprope with strangers, it can be difficult to find the pace and rhythm. There are still some albums that feel beyond me, like she’s working on some other plane of existence I can’t find a way to enter. That’s okay. I return to these albums to see if I can finally unlock their mysteries. Some I have. Some I still have a way to go. Either way, I appreciate the challenge.

When I explain this to some friends, they throw their hands in the air and wave me off.

“Who has time for this? I get home from work. I want to eat, watch MAFS, and go to bed. I don’t have the energy to decipher what this weirdo with the weird voice is putting out into the world.”

Fair enough. She’s definitely not for everyone.

What a relief.

Justin Hamilton

16th of February, 2025

Surry Hills