***
Each of the songs on Björk’s latest album can be downloaded as an iPad or iPhone app, which for non-iPad-owners may raise the question: “Can we still savor the music?” said Jim Fusilli in The Wall Street Journal. The answer, it turns out, is “a qualified yes.” While the songs here are at times “anchored, rather than liberated,” by Björk’s experimental arrangements, she remains one of the “most fascinating musicians of our time.” Not only can different versions of the songs be heard when the apps are downloaded, but the Icelandic singer recorded parts of the album using instruments that she and her team invented. Considering all this, the songs are “fairly conventional and, ultimately, very Björk-like forays into electro-fairy pop,” said Allison Stewart in The Washington Post. The glitchy beats, pulsing bass, and quirky singing that mark her past work are present, and her songwriting remains “occasionally difficult.” Even so, this a “groundbreaking work, born of incredible heart and nerve.”
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