Björk: "Earth Intruders"

Björk’s done the club toilet, the Eskimo choir, and the sound of snowfall. I'm not exactly sure if she’s really going South with this, but Björk bases the first volley from Volta around a chanted, militant new age lyric uprooted and entranced like a glowstick fertility dance. She's obviously heard M.I.A. during her downtime, stripping down her fashionista guerrilla vocal chassis with a maraca-shaking delivery and wedding it to one of those “nnnnngggaahhhh” birthing calls from Debut (1993). Her cries of “Here come the earth intruders / We are the paratroopers / The beat of sharpshooters / Comes straight from voodoo” stalk through a crossfire of Kinshasa street beat and Numan synth echoes. The inclusion of the feted Konono No.1 is vital as their dusty urban rhythms clash with Timbaland’s sleek club pulse, their rhythmic foundation providing the mortar for Timbland to stir and stab with a Korg pestle. There’s a definite Megadog vibe going on. The pervading feeling is that this is Björk’s “Earth Song” and anti-war screed rolled into one, and while that might sound like a complete turn-off for the majority of people with ears, it proves to be quite the opposite. The whole hyper-hippy mix manages to flicker like a dancing blue flame, dodging Michael Jackson’s fatuous, messianic take on ecological disaster by way of Timbaland’s ass-shaking boogaloo. Setting up anticipation for her new album nicely (Africa meets Iceland?), I just hope it’s not paving the way for some kind of crusty dance revival. No one needs that.