Björk hasn’t performed on TV in 8 years and this, as anyone who’s seen clips of her shows will tell you, is a real shame. After biding her time for nearly a decade, perhaps spending this period fully considering the ways in which studio lights reflect off glitter paint and plumes of costume feathers, the Icelandic artist has finally returned for a set on BBC 2's Later … with Jools Holland.
The two songs available online include “Courtship,” from last year’s excellent Utopia, and a gentler version of “The Anchor Song” (from 1993's Debut) that replaces the original’s saxophones with flutes.
The musical performances are as good as you’d expect, but, as this is Björk, the costumes are a big draw, too. Wearing a mask that makes the Utopia cover art wearable, a little shinier, but somehow even more otherworldly-looking, the camera tracks through and over a set covered in plants. And it’s a great effect. It makes it seem like television audiences have just happened on a strange forest knoll filled with musicians.
Björk should be on TV more often!
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