Björk has revealed the writing process behind her new single Náttúra, which features Radiohead's Thom Yorke on backing vocals.
Speaking to Pitchfork, Björk discussed both the motives of releasing the single (to help fledgling eco-friendly businesses in her native Iceland) as well as the creation of the new track.
Náttúra, she revealed, has its roots in the sessions of her most recent studio LP:
"I had all the files from Volta on my computer. I was really excited by sort of tribal drums … I took Brian Chippendale's drums for Earth Intruders, which we actually didn't use … So I started editing that like crazy in the hotel rooms, and not in a 4/4 way, which a lot of beat editing is usually, but rather in clusters.
"I started editing that like crazy in the hotel rooms, and not in a 4/4 way, which a lot of beat editing is usually, but rather in clusters"
"It didn't have to fit to a grid or Logic or all these software programs that are all about the Lego. So I took Brian's drums and made this new song out of his drums … taking it in more organic units than grid units. Once I had that, I sang on top of it. I just sang it in one take."
Björk also explained how Thom Yorke was involved:
"I've always been so against this kind of 'send to someone and they sing and then they send'. I was like fuck that ... [this is an emergency]. So I emailed Thom Yorke. He was in another hotel somewhere, I think in Germany or something, and he just sang on top of that into his computer and emailed it back to me."
You can hear the results of Björk's avant-garde beat editing for yourself by checking out the track on YouTube.
Should you wish to purchase Náttúra, it's released today (27 October). All the proceeds go to the Náttúra campaign.
