Rating: NNNNN
This is deep. After tossing off the half-assed Selmasongs set, Björk gets serious on the imaginatively orchestrated Vespertine, which makes her previous Post and Debut albums seem like warm-ups. Yet she doesn’t flaunt her string section for the sake of a grand gesture. The ideas are big, not the flourishes. And despite the broad sonic vistas, this is the most direct-sounding album she’s ever made. But true to her contradictory nature, Vespertine is not as transparently confessional as her whispers make it seem. Don’t miss Björk’s Hummingbird Centre soiree October 7.