BJÖRK

BJÖRK Guðmundsdóttir was destined for great things at an early age. She was already studying classical piano and flute at the tender age of six and caught the attention of her school teachers when she sang a Tim Charles' hit called "I Love To Love." Her teachers sent it to the only radio station in Iceland at the time and they loved it. So at the age of 12 years old all the way back in 1977 she was asked to record a full album of mostly covers but also contains three originals. This is one of those anomalies that was never released outside of her native Iceland but remains a curiosity in her discography since her next solo album ironically called "Debut" wouldn't be released until 1993.

Starting out with some sitars, the listening is left wondering if the wrong album is playing! Is this BJÖRK or Ravi Shankar? After the intro the album bursts into the expected radio friendly pop music with a disco beat. This is basically a bunch of catchy tunes with a tweenie BJÖRK singing her heart out in Icelandic. While some of the tracks could qualify as pop, some are more classical allowing her flute playing abilities to shine but the craziest track on board is a cover of The Beatles' "Fool On The Hill" or in Icelandic "Álfur Út Úr Hól"

Not as bad as i expected actually. BJÖRK already displays at a very young age incredible control of her vocals and the music itself is actually decently done, however somehow i suspect this won't be replacing "Homogenic" or "Vespertine" as her most respected albums any time soon. A rarity outside of her native land, but a catchy and cheery relic of her past that is of interest to the hard core fans. Ultimately BJÖRK was asked to record a second album but refused opting to write her own material that she would save for future releases including with her 80s punk band Spit And Snot.