Björk Dissects "Stonemilker" on "Song Exploder" Podcast
On the podcast “Song Exploder”, Hrishikesh Hirway asks artists to break down their songs and discuss how they’re made. The latest episode features Björk, who dissects her Vulnicura single “Stonemilker”, from its emotional content to the technical details of its creation. Listen to the episode above, and read extracts below.
It’s about someone who’s trying to get emotions out of another person. The whole song is emotionally about wanting clarity, wanting simplicity, and talking to someone who wants things to be really complex and foggy and unclear. And you saying, ok, I’ve got clarity: want it or not? So it’s sort of celebrating simplicity and clarity. …
It was very important that the strings were cyclical, this chord cycle that gives you this feeling it can go on and on in circles. It gives you this feeling of equilibrium, like the person who’s singing the song is showing some sort of harmony to someone as an example. … It’s trying, in the most harmonious way possible, to prove a point [laughs]. Because I think staying emotionally open, it’s a choice. I think it’s equally hard for all of us, and we’re just all doing our best, but there’s also a choice: Do you want to try, and maybe fail … or is it your choice to not even try?
Next year’s “Song Exploder guests will include Courtney Barnett on “Depreston,” MGMT on “Time to Pretend,” and Kelela on “Rewind.” Oneohtrix Point Never and the New Pornographers will also appear on future episodes. Listen to a recent installment, featuring Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy on their track “Magnetized”, here.
Read our conversation with Björk, The Invisible Woman.
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