Björk has teamed up with fellow Icelandic act sideproject on a remix of her song, “Atopos.”
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Sideproject, an electronic music trio, adds pulsating beats to the track that features six bass clarinets while maintaining the intense energy of the original version. On “Atapos” Björk sings, If we don’t grow outwards towards love / We’ll implode inwards towards destruction / If my plant doesn’t reach towards you / There’s internal erosion towards all /Pursuing the light too hard it’s a form of hiding.
“I am so grateful to the incredible Icelandic electronic group sideproject, they make me excited about Reykjavik music,” Björk says in a statement. “The future is fertile!”
“It was an absolute pleasure to work on this remix,” adds sideproject. “We had a great time putting our own spin on the soundscape of ‘Atopos’ and we are really happy with the outcome. Thank you so much Björk.” They also write in Icelandic, “takk fyrir okkur,” meaning “thanks for us.”
The song, which is named after the Greek word for “strange,” was released as the lead single off Björk’s 2022 album Fossora. She co-wrote it with Kasimyn of the Indonesian duo, Gabber Modus Operandi. Following its release, Fossora reached No. 4 in her home country, as well as No. 2 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart and No. 9 on the Billboard Top Alternative Albums chart in the U.S. Fossora is also nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2023 Grammy Awards, a category she’s been nominated in seven times.
Björk wrote every song on the album that she began developing the concept for while in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic in her native Iceland. Songs “Sorrowful Soil” and “Ancestress” were inspired by her mother, Hildur Rúna Hauksdóttir, who passed away in 2018.
Björk has a series of international tour dates planned in 2023, including an appearance at the Perth Festival in Australia and multiple stops in Japan.
Photo Credit: Vidar Logi
