When an artist as gifted and unique as Bjork settles for mediocrity, I want to know why. Maybe she doesn't care any more. Maybe it's her comment on the current music "scene". Or maybe - just maybe - she spent more time and effort on the costumes and photography in Volta's inlay (hot) than on the content of the CD (not hot).
The album opens with new single "Earth Intruders". The vocals are vaguely haunting, the beats are back (missing for a few years owing to Medulla) and it's fairly catchy. Promising signs, you might think. However, the foghorn harmonies that constitute the track's "coda" are an indicator of what follows; they persist for way too long and create no atmosphere whatsoever. It's almost as if she's having a laugh.
The next few tracks come and go; listening to this section is like finding out that February and March in your Girls Aloud calendar are in fact pictures of supermarkets. To make matters worse, Johnson from Anthony & The ... turns up on two tracks to sing like a mentalist doing an impression of Vic Reeves' club style. Apparently he's a great singer, but this isn't the place for him. Sadly, is Volta's only noticeable collaboration; most of the others are drenched in over-production and/or meaninglessness.
And so it continues: on and on; and ariston; lift music. Labelling a Bjork record in this way seems at first unimaginable, but Volta is a frankly poor effort from the great woman. I don't think she's run out of ideas - unfortunately however, there are few on show here. Maybe she should forget about the costumes, visuals and globe-trot recording (Volta was made in 10+ studios in 3 continents) and go back to basics.
Review by James Muir
