Sospeso performs an instrumental remix of songs by Björk at the Sospeso Cabaret program on April 16, 2005 at studioseven.

Although her earliest recordings date back to her eponymous debut album in 1977, it was with the Icelandic indie band the Sugarcubes, formed in 1986 with Einar Orn Benediktsson, that Björk made her initial impact outside her homeland. Her eccentric, mannered vocal style was captured perfectly on the band's debut single Birthday (One Little Indian, 1987) which was a minor UK hit. The group secured moderate commercial success with their guitar-based style, only to disband in 1992 after their most successful UK hit single, Hit.

It was not until Björk's excellent solo album Debut (One Little Indian, 1993), largely produced by Nellee Hooper (of Soul II Soul and Massive Attack), that the singer truly established herself as a major musical force. Debut contained songs which fused dance, non-western, jazz and ballad styles into a seamless whole, and yielded five UK hits, including ‘Human Behaviour’ and ‘Venus as a Boy’. Björk's breathy, shrill, melismatic vocal style is instantly recognizable, and her unusual accentuation and distinctive lyricism highlight a bizarrely naive and poetic use of English. Her lyrics play around with metre and syntax, and possess an almost child-like symbolism. Post (One Little Indian, 1995) was more disparate, bolder and with a greater reliance on contemporary dance rhythms (two tracks were written with the trip hop producer Tricky). The tracks ‘Hyperballad’ and ‘Isobel’ stood out, while the cover, ‘It's oh so quiet’, was a typically eccentric take on 1940s big-band music and became her biggest hit to date, reaching number four in the UK singles chart. Telegram (One Little Indian, 1996) was primarily a remix album of Post, while Homogenic (One Little Indian, 1997) was starker still, and showed the singer moving farther away from the pop mainstream (and, perhaps, into self-parody). A talented and unique artist, Björk's refreshingly eclectic approach to music-making has made her one of the most important artists of the 1990s. For further information see M. Aston: Björk: Björkography (London, 1996).

David Buckley, in the New Grove.