music video direction
nick knight
creative direction
björk
video production
charlotte knight & kat davey
audio production
björk
additional production
el guincho
beat
björk and sideproject
timpani
soraya nayyar
trombone
bergur thorrisson
wardrobe
gucci, alessandro michele
styling
edda guðmundsdóttir
masks
james merry
if you look at the drawing below there are 3 hemispheres
it is a map of a relationship
at the top is the ideal, what you would want the relationship to be
in the middle is the reality, day to day
(where it says "real" world)
and below is the shadow
so the attempt to remain in a relationship and keep it balanced and harmonious is almost like a delicate alchemy of adjusting here, adjusting there ...
the top layer is the dream, the perfection, ideal love, middle is more muddy, reality and the keel of the vessel, the submarine of it, is what in jungian psychology you would call the shadow.
(so this is the beginning of the song, first chapter is about the ideal)
(so second verse is about the earthy reality and that every night i take the darkness / shadows that happened and absorb it / adjust it so next day we can wake up brighter)
(third verse kinda about absorbing the shadow, fusing metals, alchemic / and i guess the ship ahoy is some sort of strange joke about the vessel i am trying to sail here lol)
(the middle section of the song is about the past, what happened in previous relationships, and when you start a new one you have to return somehow the damage you experienced, with the same volume, if that makes any sense)
i think the main element here is glass.
i think it is because love is super fragile, kinda like carrying a chinese ming vase across the motorway, and it is a balancing act to have it floating above both of you and believe in your merged higher selves ...
and that they are different from what you are as the 2 human beings that bump into each other in the kitchen
and that it is also different to your submarine shadows … everyone carries a shadow and those need to communicate and sync too
hope this makes sense
warmth
björk
(and then the last verses are about the future, how the ideal of love you carried from your childhood can be a heavy architecture that gets in the way, but heartbreaks perhaps rid you of that?)
(and perhaps the way forward is to get rid of old behaviour patterns that don’t work anymore, come to the table (of love) with no luggage and place a clear glass perfect egg above you floating ... )
bergur thorisson is a recording engineer based in reykjavik, iceland. he started his career in music years ago as a trombone player playing professionally in iceland. he recorded björk’s grammy nominated album utopia and has also been performing on stage during both the utopia tour as well as the cornucopia tour, for which he is also musical director. he recorded her new album fossora as well as playing trombones on ovule.
Soraya is the principal timpanist for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra since 2019.
Before moving to Iceland she studied classical percussion at Universität der Künste Berlin and worked in orchestras around Germany (among others Beethoven Orchester Bonn and Komische Oper Berlin). Soraya was born in the UK and grew up in Poland.
sideproject is an electronic music trio from Reykjavik, Iceland. Their music is characterized by heavy, fast-paced, intricate beats and textured, flowing synths. Stealing from everyone and everywhere, sideproject's music becomes a cryptic mix of electronic influences. With an equal focus on studio work and live performances their newest work consists of the double single kingfisher, the studio album radio vatican (electronic album of the year — icelandic music awards 2021) and the explosive live album sideproject live 2020-2021.
credits
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Director: Nick Knight
Executive Producer: Charlotte Knight
Executive Producer: Kat Davey
Set Designer: Andrew Tomlinson
1st Photo Assistant: Grace Hodgson
Digi Op: Joe Colley
Technical Supervisor: Michael Gossage
Photo Assistant: George Read
Photo Assistant: Shane Ryan
Photo Assistant: Madison Blair
Photo Assistant: Otto Masters
Studio Assistant: Anita Boamah
Studio Intern: Olive Gilson
Producer: Bella Hollamby
Production Coordinator: Jared Pasamar
Production Assistant: Kitty Lyons
Production Assistant: Jonny Faulkner
Production Assistant: Sonny Casson
Set Assistant: Alfie McHugh
Set Assistant: Phoebe Swiderska
Construction: Magna Set Building
Focus Puller: Phil Martin
Grip: Johnny Donne
Playback: Karl Taggart
DIT: David Palmer
Audio Playback: Colin Patterson
Rigger: Martin Smith -
Edit: Younji Ku
Grade & Post: Loic Maes
CGI Lead: Tom Wandrag @ A New Plane
CGI Artist: Kylian Maupoint
3D Scanning: FBFX Digital
Motion Capture: Target3D
Rigging: Mimic Productions
Additional CGI Artist:Sam Fuller
Text: Cat Sacramento -
Talent: Björk
Masks & Assistance for Björk: James Merry -
All wardrobe: GUCCI, Alessandro Michele
Head Of Communications: Arabella Musgrave
VIP Creative Services Manager: Francesca Strali
Public Relations Coordinator: Dominic Brown
Stylist: Edda Guðmundsdóttir
Hair Stylist: Eugene Souleiman
Hair Stylist Assistant: Claire Moore
Hair Stylist Assistant: Massimo Di Stefano
Make Up Artist: Andrew Gallimore
Make Up Artist Assistant: Rocio Cuenca
Manicurist: Adam Slee -
words and music by björk
trombone and timpani arrangement by björk
beat by björk and sideproject
produced by björk
additional production by el guincho
engineered by bergur thorrisson and jake miller
percussion : soraya nayyar
Trombone: bergur ϸorisson
mixed & mastered by heba kadry
vinyl mastering by josh bonati
björk management: derek birkett, chiara michieletto, catherine verna bentley, wellhart ltdthe copyright in this sound recording is owned by one little independent records ltd.
p/ 2022 one little independent records
c/ 2022 one little independent recordsall rights reserved
bjork.com
Olirecords.com -
Special thanks to alessandro michele, lila staab, robert triefus
Dress by Gucci by Alessandro Michele
Mask sketch by James Merry