If Radiohead sit on their throne as the collective kings of my test tracks playlist, it’s only right that Björk should be considered, albeit somewhat clunkily, their Icelandic queen. During my time as a reviewer at What Hi-Fi?, I can’t think of an artist whose works I’ve relied on more to dig out the capabilities and constraints of floorstanding speakers, high-end amplifiers and headphones in all their guises. Björk is a darling of the test room as much as she is an icon of her time, with an appeal that goes far beyond the usual boundaries and parameters of a traditional solo artist.
I use tracks from across the Icelandic pioneer’s extensive catalogue of work for reviewing kit, with each album offering its own particular aspects of innovation and musical ingenuity for any good hi-fi system to unveil and uncover. 1993’s Debut is crammed full of energetic, wondrous arrangements that speak of an artist finally free to express and pursue the strange ideas fizzing in her head, while 2015’s Vulnicura is a deeply personal exploration of Björk’s emotional state following her breakup with American artist Matthew Barney. Whichever album you pick from her collection of 11 official studio releases, there will be a bounty of textures, shades and flavours to stretch the talents of whatever you use to play them.
For me, it’s 1997’s Homogenic which continually finds itself plucked metaphorically from the digital shelf to enjoy frequent replays through a raft of audio gear, from Bluetooth speakers to high-end floorstanders. If I had the album in CD form it would, like The Bends or The Darkness' Permission To Land before it, be scratched and battered from overuse. Thank goodness for Tidal, eh?
Melding avant-garde art pop with techno and electronic adornments and lashings of classical influences (Björk loves sweeping strings), Homogenic is an album of paradoxes that somehow fold together to form a breathtakingly unique and cohesive whole. So many albums try to do too much and end up feeling ill-conceived, muddled or confused, yet Björk’s third effort, famously the trickiest release for any creative artist, is a delightful apex that draws contrasting elements and influences together, harnessing and moulding them into shape rather than drowning amidst the chaos and confusion.
As with the best records, it’s tough to pick out a favourite track – more than that, your ‘favourite’ will likely change with the seasons as new pleasures and adventures are unlocked within each mini-epic. Track four, Bachelorette, may be my most used test track ever, its relentless ebbing and flowing rhythms and moody, restless volatility serving to strain and reveal every facet of a good system’s capabilities. In exploring the nature of love and desire, Bachelorette is all about contrast, thumping its way in with those signature drums of which our composer is so fond with conviction and authority – and then calming the storm for a quiet moment, all before crashing back with propulsive energy again as the unstoppable instrumentation hammers back into life. I use it as a test of... absolutely everything.
If you’re besotted by all things orchestral, then the album’s second track, Jóga, will delight as much as it entrances, provided you have the equipment to bring out its myriad shades and textures. Rich strings combine with flittering, scattered electronic undertones and distorted drum effects, but it’s Björk's remarkable vocals that take centre stage. Laden with emotion and honesty, you’re not listening for a polished reproduction – instead, your system will need the requisite transparency and insight to unveil the contrasts within those vocals, from controlled, elegant croons to raw, knife-edge wails.
Orchestral grandeur and avant-garde experimentation aside, those vocals are one of Homogenic’s purest pleasures and one of the album’s most potent strengths. Whereas Jóga and Bachelorette are built predominantly around variation and sometimes even naked contraction, the quieter, more personal Unravel acts as a purer showcase of those Icelandic pipes in action. Crafted as a sparse slow-builder, the best headphones and hi-fi will pick out the particulars of Björk's incomparable delivery, from the throaty rawness of those arcing sweeps to the sibilant whispers and over-pronounced ‘R’ sounds of her hushed Nordic accent exhibited on words such as “unravel”, “yarn” and “heart”.
Eclectic and oddball as Homogenic can be, the quality on display never falters. You could ask a good dozen devotees to name their favourite track, and each would likely give a different, but inescapably valid reply. When quality melds with such diversity and breadth, not to mention depth and density within the tracks themselves, you know you have the makings of a supreme test record. Good systems will scratch Homogenic’s pristine surface, but a great one will bring out all those layers to majestic effect. When that happens, boy will you know about it.
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