Recently, when looking for a change of pace, I dug through my CD and MP3 collection looking for tunes to fill my iPod that I hadn't heard in a while, and I rediscovered Bjork. When I first heard 'Debut' I thought it was a great album, and she followed it up expertly with 'Post'. Both albums were right up my alley at the time: heavy on the electronic, nice n drum heavy, but also with great melodic elements, and you can't beat her voice. Then when 'Homogenic' came out, it started getting a little to heavy on the experimental weirdness side, and I kind of lost interest for several years.

The thing with Bjork is that she is a weird sort (by all accounts) and while you can't fault her for her willingness to experiment with different sounds, producers and genres, it's really not for everyone. I was big on her when she was working with Howie B and Graham Massey from 808 State, because I was listening to that kind of sound at the time. But she sort of lost that appeal for me, especially when 'Vespertine' came out, which I didn't even get all the way through when I gave up on it.

So now we are at 2007, and I loaded up my player with 'Army Of Me', 'Hyperballad', and 'Violently Happy' (my absolute fave Bjork tune), and all the tracks and remixes I loved from the two first albums. Then, out of boredom, I decided to check out what she had been up to lately, and accidentally discovered 'Volta'.

'Volta' is a pretty good record, I think, and the first track I heard was 'Declare Independence', which was released as a single yesterday. When I heard the opening bars, I thought, okay, this is just more of the same experimental 'whatever', but then that driving beat came in, and the song slowly starts to build to the eventual crescendo. It's very cacophonous in parts, but it works for the track especially over her spoken (and sometimes shouted) vocals, and I started bopping out in my chair as I listened. Then I moved on to "Earth Intruders' (the first single) and it was another hit with me. So I went out and bought the album.

Just goes to show you, you shouldn't give up on an artist for all time. You never know what they might come up with.