While Bjork's earliest works such as Debut and Post seemed more headed for clubland, her later releases dealt more and more with her innermost thoughts and unfelt feelings. On Vespertine, she continued the exploration into the soul and comes off with great emotional depth. And best of all, she achieved all this without even the need to raise her voice to octave-scaling levels.

The album's opener Hidden Place is a very poigant and affectionate song, complete with her visionary video no less. Gems like Cocoon, It's Not Up To You, Pagan Poetry are just a handful. The album is not easily accessible at least not when compared to her previous works, but Bjork never intended anything from her to be accessible so immediately. It takes a few listens and you'll be totally hooked! Magical...

Included here is the excellent non-US album track Generous Palmstroke available only on the Hidden Place DVD single.


So, Generous Palmstroke is the bonus track?   January 10, 2002
old_hyperbolic_squiggly (the netherlands)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Dance tracks, step aside. As already stated I'm sure, Vespertine is lacey, intimate, clear, wintery, sparkly; more hopeful, reverent and caressing on the ears than Homogenic. The best track HIDDEN PLACE is so awesome it's my favorite song from 2000. COCOON is obviously kin of "Venus as a Boy", but her the gentle, sexually explicit lyrics are bit more clear than they were on Debut so it shocks some. IT'S NOT UP TO YOU is the moderately upbeat pop song here (a little surprising in its obvious accessibility). I do hear what another reviewer criticized as "excessive emoting" on Vespertine; that's especially heard early on this track. The most engaging sequence begins with the excellent UNDO, followed by PAGAN POETRY (from the foresty Isobel & Bachelorette strand), icy instrumental FROSTI which is a delightful primer for AURORA. At close listen, her soaring lyrics on the latter actually falter and rely on the back-ups for filling (and it is unusual to find any fault with her singing). The mood is changed with AN ECHO, A STAIN, haunting me of some sadder moments from the movie Dancer in the Dark, but otherwise a great composition. In comparison to her other releases, Vespertine's special shine comes from the intensely poetic lyrics of every song; and these are even more focused on than the music in SUN IN MY MOUTH and HEIRLOOM. HARM OF WILL tells a strange, elusive tale but is easily overlooked. UNISON ends with some easygoing, lovely sounds, with Vespertine fading into the distance rather than going out with a bang. But GENEROUS PALMSTROKE is gorgeous and amazing, but I strongly recommend you get the Hidden Place #1 single to own that along with "Verandi" rather than let it finish this disc for you. It really isn't the right song to end this collection on. Dare I say, Vespertine is Björk's most mellow and feel-good work ... but who ever said that that's a bad thing, or uninteresting for that matter?!?