Mood Music: Volta

Björk's new album, Volta, hit stores on May 8th with quite a bit of fanfare. Right now, it's number 9 on the Billboard chart.

Listening to this album is like digging your hands into soil; it's earthy, heavy with percussion, resonant, all mixed with a pinch of accessibility, and I believe we may have a winner folks!

Volta is the major follow-up to Medulla, a slightly more eclectic, vocally weighed, and less accessible album by my standards. In July of 2005, Björk released the album, The Music from Drawing Restraint 9, the soundtrack to her boyfriend's movie, The Drawing Restraint 9. Eh. Not my cup of tea either. Whales and Japan. That's all I'll say about that.

But, Volta is this amazing album that's really a fine collection of all the little bits and pieces that make Björk who she is. It features input from acclaimed producer Timbaland, Antony Hegarty and Sjón among other artists, and there's a real connectivity happening. It's organic, romantic, and raw.

Click the image above to watch "Earth Intruders," the first video from her Volta.

Another fun fact: Did you know that Björk's name means "a birch tree" in Icelandic? Now you do.