Courtesy of Bjork

If it was 1993, and you were an Icelandic woman who was fed up with the gimmicky dead end band that you were in, and your solo project needed to express something that transcended any single music genre while simultaneously expressing what it is to be human, you are guilty of being Bjork. The album Debut is Bjork‰’s first English album and starts with the heavy song with African drums in the background of “Human Behavior.”

Courtesy of Noisey

Throughout the album, you can hear her ethereal vocals range from terrifyingly girlish whispers to a strong range that captures emotion and is often high enough to give you goose bumps. The absurdly different influences that the songs take on allows for her voice to be the main element that ties the album together. The pop track “There‰’s More To Life Than This ‰ÛÒ Live‰” which was recorded in a club bathroom, is almost unrecognizable compared to the soft harp laden love song “Like Someone to Love‰” without her distinctive Icelandic accent and eerily earthy voice. Yet none of the tracks make it past five minutes in length, something that is unusual for the rest of her albums.

The album does not have a very cohesive sound and is often off-putting, but, at the same time, Bjork has been around long enough to be comforting to your average hipster ears. Her recent admirers, Death Grips, have remixed many of her songs as well as put her on their album The Powers that B. Bjork‰’s jazzy, electronic, earthy, ethereal, and emotional album is the ultimate solo career debut ‰ÛÒsee what I did there? Essentially, it is an album you should listen to and will be confused by, but ultimately will feel enlightened by her ability to transcend the definition of a genre.