Bjork’s newest album ‘Vulnicura’ is a thematically heavy album with ambient and electronic undertones, and is generally understood to be charting her split-up with longtime partner Matthew Barney. Its a catalogue of misery and loss, in the form of an album. Gripping, heavy, perhaps even triggering.

But it would be wrong to say this is not art. Bjork is making real statements deep into her career, a positive sign of her enduring artistry and legitimacy as a celebrated performer. That and the underlying music is as always, top notch.

To get this album, pull up lyrics.

“This is our last time together.” [‘History of Touches’]

“I am blind // Drowing in this Ocean.” [‘Black Lake’]

“Where Can I Pay Respects // For the Death of my Family?” [‘Family’]

“Without Love I Feel The Abyss // Understand Your Fear of Death // … Love Will Keep All Of Us Safe From Death” [‘Notget’]

“Let This Ugly Wound Breath” [‘Atom Dance’]

“My Throat Was Stuffed // My Mouth Was Sewn Up // Banned From Making Noise // I Was Not Heard” [‘Mouth Mantra’]

This is a breakup album, but to think of it like that would be to box it in and deny its inherent artistry. Bjork uses her breakup with Barney as a vehicle to take the listener on a journey of angst, sadness, pain, emptiness, and all the familiar feelings of a doomed relationship, fading love, and helplessness in the face of darkness.

The production of the album is quality, but the message of the album is so powerful that all her typical trappings of strings, synths and futuristic drum pads, all stand back and serve to enhance and underly her story-telling.

The message is clear, that of being in a relationship with a person who is growing increasingly colder, more distant, while you still desperately stoke the fires. Despairing in the knowledge of the inevitable draw apart.

If you want a cathartic dive into the depths of Bjork’s recent despair and malaise, listen to this album. Her experience may mirror your own. If you want a dose of the Bjork aesthetic, its there. If you’re looking for a very chill album to listen to, its there. I found listening to this album difficult, because of the heavy themes in relentless quantities. However, I applaud Bjork’s bravery in putting out a disc of such an honest/real/painful nature.

Written by Sandeep Sehbi.

Sandeep is a Central Ohio frontman/musician/performer, writer/blogger, booker/promoter, freelance media specialist/social media guru and student at The Ohio State University.