Suppose Björk’s last artistic effort was defined by blooming flowers, bass-less utopic ambience and flute-playing concerts given on islands in the clouds. In that case, her next album, Fossora, promises to uncover all that grows in the shadows of her self-made dream world.

“Each album always starts with a feeling that I try to shape into sound,” the Icelandic mega-star tweeted out this morning, alongside a 13-song tracklist that includes titles such as Victimhood, and Fungal City. “This time around the feeling was landing on the earth and digging my feet into the ground.” 

each album always starts with a feeling
that i try to shape into sound
this time around
the feeling was landing
on the earth and digging my feet into the ground

pre-order here : https://t.co/d7zfbBPozi pic.twitter.com/n1bX5Iwl6w

— björk (@bjork) August 31, 2022

Fossora is the multi-instrumentalist’s tenth studio album – its name a word made up by Björk herself. It is the feminine of fossore, a term for diggers, delvers and ditchers, which, in short, means “she who digs”. Visually, this translates into a curiosity for the natural world, positioning the singer as a horticultural doyenne who sports shimmering green lipstick, amorphous, forest-hued heels and a wispy, daffodil-esque bouffant as she rules over a dark mushroom lair in the project’s new artwork, art directed by James T. Merry.

Worked at intermittently over the past five years through worldwide pandemics and the star’s extensive touring endeavours, what’s here seems to make sense of grief, extending roots and olive branches to parts of the artist’s life that may have been neglected over the past few decades. And as for what that sounds like? Expect a potently Björk soundscape that flits between harsh, punching subs, sharp pangs of hardcore techno and bassy clarinet work. 

Find out more about Fossora here.