Bjork 'Vulnicura Strings' 2015: Release Date, Download Options and Info for New Album

Culture

Icelandic experimentalist musician Björk — Björk Guðmundsdóttir, if you're feeling formal — is putting out an all-acoustic version of her most recent record, Vulnicura, the artist's ninth studio album, which was released on Jan. 20. The collection of remixes, Vulnicura Strings (Vulnicura: The Acoustic Version), is slated for digital and CD release on Friday. Vinyl hardcopies of the LP hit shelves Dec. 4. 

Ahead of the record's release, Björk made available one of the album's reimagined tracks, a rework of "Lionsong," and the cut is streaming on YouTube. Other streaming options of Björk's releases can be found on the musician's Soundcloud page. At some point on the release date, Vulnicura Strings (Vulnicura: The Acoustic Version)  will be available for download via Björk's digital store

As a creator, Björk is famously enigmatic. From a sonic and an artistic persona perspective, few musicians are as categorically hard to pin down. For proof of that, take a quick trip to the musician's web page (headphones, an open mind and anti-nausea medication are recommended). 

A songstress that thrives in abstraction, Björk has steadily built an unshakable fan base and has influenced any number of big-time artists along the way since her first LP, a self-titled record, surfaced in 1977. 

Per a post to her website announcing the project, Björk wrote:

While I was working on 'Vulnicura,' it became one of the most magical thing both musically and spiritually to unite the electronics and the acoustic instruments in an almost romantic way: to prove they can coexist!! That positive tango was a proactive counterpoint to the lyrics of the album: the end of an union, onion, tears, a lot, lol. 
But while working on it I felt somehow for the first time, this was an album that could take another version: a reveal, to simply have the acoustics stand on their own for the folks who wanna indulge even further into the wooden timeless side of this music. [With] no techno.

The track list to Vulnicura Strings is identical to that of Vulnicura, as are the songs' lyrics. Yet one major addition to the record is the inclusion of a viola organista, an instrument Leonardo da Vinci designed more than five centuries ago, according to the description on the album's pre-order page

Into abstractions: Proof of Björk's ongoing legacy, earlier this year New York City's Museum of Modern Art curated a retrospective exhibit showcasing 20 years of Björk's career that was on display from March 8 to June 7. The installation, which overtook two floors of the museum, used film, sound, instruments and costumes to chronicle the musician's discography and cultural impact. The exhibit opened to — ahem — we'll call them mixed reviews. Perhaps Vulnicura Strings will provide those critics with some headache relief. 

Having ended a worldwide tour in August, the Reykjavík native has no tour dates currently scheduled. 

Timothy A. Clary /Getty Images
Timothy A. Clary /Getty Images
Timothy A. Clary /Getty Images