| Post |
 |
| Studio album by Björk |
| Released |
13 June 1995 |
| Recorded |
Compass Point Studios, Bahamas, 1994-April 1995 |
| Genre |
Electronica, experimental, jazz, tribal house, trip hop, pop, alternative dance |
| Length |
46:10 (International Editions) , 50:55 (Japanese Editions) |
| Label |
One Little Indian |
| Producer |
Björk, Nellee Hooper, Graham Massey, Tricky, Howie B, Marius de Vries |
| Professional reviews |
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| Björk chronology |
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Post is the third studio album by Icelandic singer-songwriter and musician Björk, released in June 1995. Met with critical and commercial success, Post built on the electronic-pop of previous release Debut and flirted with various other musical styles including big band and trip hop, and featured numerous producers. Post went on to be certified Platinum in various regions including the UK, USA, Canada, Europe and Australia, and produced three UK Top 10 singles.
Title
Björk named the album Post for two reasons. First, she saw Debut and Post as a series; the songs on Debut were written before her move to England, while the songs on Post were written after moving to England and dealt with her experiences there.[1] Second, she saw the album as posting her feelings ("for me, all the songs on the album are like saying, 'listen, this is how I'm going'").[2] The white shirt with blue and red markings that Björk wears on the cover is an allusion to an air mail envelope, thus giving Post an additional meaning of "mail".
Musical style
While building on Debut's dance-pop blueprint, Post was very musically eclectic, with Björk herself calling it "musically promiscuous".[3] According to Björk, her "musical heart was scattered at the time and I wanted to show that (on Post)".[3] The album touches on various musical styles – from the industrial opener "Army Of Me" to the big band of "It's Oh So Quiet", trip hop experiments "Enjoy", "Possibly Maybe" and "Headphones", and the cinematic, sweeping "Isobel". Unlike Debut, Post featured production from various producers – Graham Massey, Tricky, Howie B and Björk herself. Nevertheless, Debut producer Nellee Hooper still had a large input on Post, co-producing six of the album's tracks. Initially, Björk had begun recording and producing Post on her own, but found the task too daunting and begged Hooper to join her, to which he "kept refusing" because "he said [Björk] should and could do it (produce the album) on [her] own." [4]
Album theme and lyrical content
Björk sees Post as being "fearless" and about the emotions of "a girl who left her home...and faces a new and unexplored world",[5] concluding "Post was looking, Homogenic [the album's successor] was what I found".[3]
The album opener, "Army Of Me", as well as "The Modern Things", was written by Björk and Graham Massey before Debut was recorded.[3] "Army of Me", dealing with getting on with life and stopping complaining, was written to her brother.[3] "Hyper-Ballad" was inspired by a dream, and is about how a person hides their destructive nature from their partner and releases their aggression by "throwing little things off" a cliff.[6] "The Modern Things", which describes technology taking over the world, concluding "it's their time now", was written in response to people's fear of the rise of "soulless" technology.[7] "Isobel", described by Björk as a "mythical song", was written with frequent collaborator Sjón.[3] Part of a sequence of songs including "Human Behaviour" on Debut and "Bachelorette" on Homogenic, "Isobel" deals with a woman who is "married to herself" and has isolated herself from modern life.[8] "Possibly Maybe" was written about Björk's failed relationship with Stéphane Sednaoui ("Where's that love you promised me? Where is it?").[9] while "I Miss You" deals with falling in love with someone not yet met ("I miss you but I haven't met you yet").[10] "Cover Me", written with Hooper, is about "how dangerous I (Björk) manage...to make album making. And trying to lure him (Hooper) in" ("This is really dangerous...I'm going to prove the impossible really exists").[3] "Headphones" was written to Graham Massey as a thank you for his mix-tapes, as well as being "a love letter to sound. The sound of sound."[3]
Recording
Much material was recorded during Post's genesis in 1994. To save money on taxes,[11] many of the vocals for the album were recorded in Nassau, Bahamas by Compass Point Studios, with Björk standing well out into the ocean at sunset. The vocals for "Cover Me" were originally recorded in a bat-infested cave and featured different instrumentation. While a studio recording appeared on Post, the cave recording is available on Family Tree, a box set of rare material, released in 2002; and also in the CD Single of Army of Me
Critical reception
Post was generally met with overwhelmingly positive critical reception. All Music Guide gave the album four-and-a-half stars, saying "the pressure was on Björk to surpass that album's (Debut) creative, tantalizing electronic pop. She has more than delivered with 1995's Post". Rolling Stone gave Post four stars, concluding "when Post comes to an end, it feels like getting back from a good vacation: the last thing you want to do is re-enter the real world". Slant Magazine rewarded the album with five stars, concluding "Post will likely always remain the Björk album that most successfully sustains her winning balance of experimental whimsy and solid pop magic". The album was ranked #26 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005" and #373 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Furthermore, Post and Homogenic were placed back-to-back on Pitchfork's "Best of the 90's" list.
Single releases
"Army of Me" was released as Post's leading single on the 21st of April, 1995. It debuted at #10 on the UK Singles Charts, becoming her first UK Top 10 single. Although it dropped out of the Top 20 the next week, "Army of Me" remained in the Top 75 for five weeks.[12] "Isobel" was released as the album's second single on the 14th of August of the same year. Less commercially successful than "Army of Me", it debuted at #23 on the UK Singles Charts, remaining in the Top 75 for three weeks.[13] "It's Oh So Quiet" was released as a novelty Christmas single on the 13th of November, 1995. Spending a total of fifteen weeks in the UK Top 75, it peaked at #4 and spent eight weeks in the Top 10.[14] It became her biggest worldwide hit, peaking at #6 in Australia[15] and #109 in the US. "Hyper-Ballad" was released as the album's fourth single on the 12th of February, 1996. Building on the success of "It's Oh So Quiet", the single debuted at #8 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming her third and last UK Top 10 single. While "Hyper-Ballad" dropped out of the Top 20 the next week, it remained in the Top 75 for a month.[16] "Possibly Maybe" was released as Post's fifth single on the 28th of October, 1996. It debuted at #12 on the UK Singles Chart, spending three weeks in the UK Top 75.[17] "I Miss You" was released as Post's sixth and final single on the 24th of February, 1997. Although it hit #1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart, it debuted at #34 on the UK Singles Chart, spending two weeks in the Top 75.[18]
Promotion and tour
Björk promoted Post heavily, appearing on various television programs including Later... with Jools Holland and Top Of The Pops, and in print. In addition, the album was promoted through posters, magazine advertisements, etc.
Björk toured Post from August 1995 to February 1997.[19] The tour covered the USA, the UK, much of Europe, Asia, Oceania, Israel and Brazil. The last gig of the tour, at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, was filmed and released on VHS and DVD.
Artwork
Björk had originally decided that the cover of Post should be a portrait of herself surrounded by her possessions. The possessions, things from home that were important to her, were intended to reflect Post's theme of isolation from her friends and family in Iceland. This idea was scrapped when Paul White of Me Company thought of surrounding Björk with giant postcards, representing the communication with her friends and relatives via the post. The cover image was photographed by Stéphane Sednaoui in a street in London, while the booklet and packaging were designed by long-time collaborator Me Company, who were also responsible for the artwork on the album's singles. Orange featured heavily in the album's artwork as White felt the colour matched the album's personality. The typeface used for Björk's logo during the Post and Debut eras was a modified version of DIN, which is used on German road signs. Martin Gardiner modelled the lotus flower used in the album's booklet and packaging, while the jacket Björk wears on the cover of Post, crafted from envelope paper called Tjvek, was designed by Hussein Chalayan, who Björk modelled for in September 1995.[20]
Originally, a photograph shot by Jean Baptiste Mondino, who shot the cover photograph for Debut, featuring Björk surrounded by silver balls, her tongue extended towards a falling ball, was chosen for Post's cover image. This idea was later scrapped.[21]
Frequent collaborator Michel Gondry directed three of Post's music videos: "Army of Me", "Isobel", and "Hyper-Ballad". Spike Jonze directed the video for "It's Oh So Quiet", Sednaoui directed the video for "Possibly Maybe", and John Kricfalusi, creator of the cartoon Ren and Stimpy, directed the partially-animated music video for "I Miss You".
Formats
Post was initially released on CD, cassette, vinyl and minidisc. In addition, Post was available for a limited time in the UK and Europe as a digipack with an extended lyric booklet and poster, or as a digipack contained in a clear PVC wallet (with a strap to carry it). The album was released for a limited time in the UK as a cassette in similar packaging. Post was also available for a limited time on pink vinyl. In 2000, the album was made available on 180g heavyweight vinyl and in 2008, One Little Indian reissued the album on DMM 200g heavyweight vinyl. In the same year, Post was made available on CD as a vinyl replica. The album was re-released in 2006 as a DualDisc including new DTS 96/24 5.1-channel surround sound mixes and the album's music videos, available separately or as part of the (____surrounded): box set.[22]
Related releases
Telegram
In November 1996, Björk released Telegram, a collection of remixes of every song on Post excluding "It's Oh So Quiet" and "The Modern Things", and the B-Side of "It's Oh So Quiet", "My Spine". The album featured collaborations with The Brodsky Quartet, Evelyn Glennie and LFO.
Enjoyed: A Tribute to Bjork's Post
In March 2008, the website Stereogum released the original album Enjoyed: A Tribute to Björk's Post. The collection, available free at stereogum.com/bjork, features cover songs by Liars, Dirty Projectors, Xiu Xiu, High Places, Final Fantasy & Ed Droste, Atlas Sound, No Age, and others.
Track listing
| Writer(s) |
| 12. |
"I Go Humble" (Björk/Mark Bell) |
|
4:44 |
| Writer(s) |
| 1. |
"Sweet Intuition" (Björk/Nellee Hooper) |
|
4:44 |
| 2. |
"Venus as a Boy [Harpsichord Version featuring Guy Sigsworth]" (Björk) |
|
2:13 |
| 3. |
"Hyper-Ballad [Brodsky Quartet Version]" (Björk) |
|
3:20 |
| 4. |
"Charlene" (Björk/Nellee Hooper) |
|
3:38 |
Charts
| Country |
Peak position[23] |
| Australia |
2 |
| Austria |
13 |
| Belgium (Flanders) |
5 |
| Belgium (Wallonia) |
3 |
| Finland |
9 |
| France |
26 |
| Netherlands |
5 |
| New Zealand |
4 |
| Norway |
4 |
| Sweden |
2 |
| UK |
2[24] |
| USA |
32 |
Certifications
| Region |
Certification |
Sales |
| Australia |
Platinum |
70,000+ |
| Canada |
Platinum |
100,000+[25] |
| Europe |
Platinum |
1,000,000+[26] |
| United Kingdom |
Platinum |
300,000+[27] |
| United States |
Platinum[28] |
1,000,000+ |
Personnel
- John Altman – Orchestra arrangements, conductor
- Gary Barnacle – Soprano sax
- Howie Bernstein – Producer, programming, engineer, mixing
- Björk – Vocals, producer, keyboards, organ, string arrangements, brass arrangements
- Stuart Brooks – Trumpet
- Jim Couza – Hammer dulcimer
- Einar Orn – Trumpet
- Eumir Deodato – String arrangements, conductor
- Marcus Dravs – Programming, engineer, mixing
- Al Fisch – Engineer
- Lenny Franchi – Programming, engineer
- Martin Gardiner - Lotus flower modelling
- Isobel Griffiths – Orchestral contractor
- Nellee Hooper – Producer
- Graham Massey – Producer, keyboards, programming
- Me Company - Artwork/Packaging design
- Maurice Murphy – Trumpet
- Tony Pleeth – Cello
- Steve Price – Engineer
- Stéphane Sednaoui - Photography
- Guy Sigsworth – Harpsichord
- Talvin Singh – Percussion
- Rob Smissen – Viola
- Mark "Spike" Stent – Mixing
- Al Stone – Engineer
- Tricky– Producer, keyboards, programming
- Marius de Vries – Keyboards, programming
- Gavin Wright – Orchestra leader
References
External links
