We’ve known Björk was going to produce the music of the future ever since she soundtracked the trippy, bonkers and now sadly forgotten Vauxhall Vectra TV ad in 1995:
In fact, is that someone wearing a VR headset at 0:31?
Now, over two decades later, she’s released the world’s first virtual reality album in partnership with HTC, on their kickass virtual reality platform HTC Vive (review here).
Confusingly, it’s not actually a new album - it’s Vulnicura, the heavy breakup album she released last year (and then cancelled some tour dates because it was too hard to sing the songs live). But the VR aspect is new, and features custom-made videos for some of the songs - including one filmed inside Björk’s mouth. Not sure we want that on our heads, but superfans might relish the chance to get inside her head… literally.
The VR experience is initially only open to people with tickets to her upcoming 18-month world tour, which kicks off in Sydney on the 4th of June and then travels to more international cities. The opening night features a DJ set by the lady herself, as well as a room full of Vives to try out the VR experience. It sounds like a more interactive experience than the VR music videos we’ve seen so far (I enjoyed Muse’s ‘Revolt‘ on VRSE, for instance, but you can only move your head), using the Vive’s room-scale tracking to let people “explore the large physical space, creating a deep connection that only could be achieved and experienced in VR.”
It’d be pretty crazy to limit such a large videographic production to just the people on the tour, so we’re expecting to see the Vulnicura VR experience available to download before long. But in the meantime, you can enjoy the 360-degree video for ‘Stonemilker’ on YouTube:
