by
Björk
- Record Label: Elektra/Asylum
- Release Date: Sep 19, 2000
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Alternative PressThe music on Selmasongs brings Bjork's penchant for haunting melodies, cinematic imagery and ambient percussion fully to bear.... Though composed for a film, the music is 100-percent Bjork and may well be her best work yet. [12/2000, p.91]
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Björk's airy and exalted vocals are wonderfully familiar. She may be singing as Selma, but Björk herself isn't too far beneath the surface.
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The WireFor Bjork, this release marks a development in her craft.... SelmaSongs is a little big brave collection of songs that makes me feel better whenever I listen to it. [#201, p.58]
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An excellent release, albeit a bit short.
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An appropriate marriage of industrial clanging and symphonic melodrama... this album, although short, represents a particularly accessible career highlight for Bjork.
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One of the most exciting pop-music experiments to along in a long while.... Selmasongs works as an album, not just as a souvenir of a daring cinematic and musical venture.
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She may not have written the words, but Björk's emotional investment in songs like 'I've Seen It All' (really sad) and 'Scatterheart' (really really sad) is undeniable; making this album - 'in character' as poor, doomed Selma - totally seductive as A Björk Record.
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SpinSelmasongs becomes a deeper listen after you've seen Dancer In The Dark.... But even without its proper context, the album is evidence of Bjork's unstoppable growth. [Nov. 2000, p.197]
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In signature Björk fashion, the songs are emotionally intense, beautifully orchestrated, sensually sweet, and wickedly exotic.
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SelectIt's the violently romantic finale 'New World,' though, that should see doubts finally stifled. Rivalling Massive Attack's 'Teardrop' in its breathtaking loveliness, it's among the best things she's done. (Oct. 2000, p.102)
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Bjork has crafted an album that is both intimate and theatrical, innovative, but tied to tradition. Though Selmasongs paints a portrait of a woman losing her sight, it maintains Bjork's unique vision perfectly.
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Selmasongs breaks no new ground whatsoever for the Icelandic composer, instead dwelling in more comfortable regions already mapped by Homogenic.... the record definitely has its great moments. The problem is, there are only two of them.
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Without the context of the film, the songs don't stand particularly well on their own for the purposes of casual listening.
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The most notable feature of Selmasongs is how much it sounds like her most recent musical adventures, regardless of the album's intended cinematiccontext.
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Bjork-obsessed fans hungry for more of the songwriter's customary eccentricities might be disappointed with the brief and thematic focus of the album.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 97 out of 108
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Mixed: 3 out of 108
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Negative: 8 out of 108
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Sep 22, 2010
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AndrewFAug 2, 2006
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Jan 13, 2023