Originally written by Dan Rees · 18 September 2000
Björk
Selmasongs
Label: One Little Indian Release Date: 18/09/2000
"Selma Songs" is the official soundtrack to "_Dancer
In The Dark_", in which **Bjork** plays the lead role of Selma. The soundtrack is totally different to **Bjork**'s previous work and represents a leap into new terrority.
Things start with the overture, which sweeps in a Jurassic Park
kind of a way, with a full orchestra building crescendos in a Spielberg-blockbuster fashion.
"Selma Songs" then leads into "Cvalda",
a fusion of industrial beats and enchanting percussion that turns into an explosive chrorus featuring short and sharp bursts of "_It's Oh So Quiet_" brass.
"I've Seen It All" is a gloriously dark duet with
**Thom Yorke** (**Radiohead**). More industrial beats lay underneath a rich string arrangement, with the two vocal lines providing sweet harmonies. The two artists compliment each other perfectly and it would be almost impossible to find someone to replace **Thom Yorke** for this track.
"Scatterheart" is less successful. A minimalist
beat carries **Bjork**'s vocals with pain before breaking into an almost eighties-goes-tribal chorus. Her vocals seem to become more random and begin to fade.
On the other hand "In The Musicals" has a little
more impact with a similar approach. Yet more industrial-tribal beats carry the track under layers of fluid strings and spontaneous slapstick bursts. Vocals express a range of emotions from pain to pleasure.
The remainder of the soundtrack continues in much the same way,
industrial symphony, utilising a whole range of percussion instruments, but after "_I've Seen It All_" things never really get going. The song is almost certainly the highlight of the soundtrack, with finale "_New World_" also a plus. The other tracks just never seem to make an impression.
It seems as if something that might make a wonderful musical makes
an average soundtrack. The music is rich and layered, but just doesn't work without pictures.
• 6 Dan Rees's Score