Björk reveals release date and stunning cover art for upcoming album ‘Fossora’

by Billie Margot · September 2, 2022

The cover art captures the concept of a fantasy fungal underworld explored in ‘Fossora‘.

A few weeks ago Icelandic acclaimed artist Björk in an interview with The Guardian opened up about the concept of her upcoming new album ‘Fossora’. This new work will be Björk’s tenth studio album, succeeding 2017’s ‘Utopia‘. Many were the inspirations that the Icelandic superstar presented for the creation of ‘Fossora’, the main ones being the loss of her mother in 2018 and also the defining experience lived in the lockdowns, the context in which the album was produced. On this, Björk mentioned that:

‘7 billion of us did it together, nesting in our homes quarantining, being long enough in one place that we shot down roots’

Roots, earth, fungi. It is from this that the concept of the album is built and from here that the name ‘Fossora’ arises, which, as the artist explains:

‘It is a word I made up. it is the feminine of fossore ( digger, delver, ditcher ). so in short it means “she who digs” (into the ground).’

It is precisely this fantasy world surrounded by magical fungi that is illustrated in the stunning cover art for ‘Fossora’. The image shows Björk crouched atop a fungal magical world that proliferates into deep and beautiful roots. This artwork was captured by Vidar Logi and with the creative direction of James Merry and Björk herself who narrates in detail what this cover art means:

‘each album always starts with a feeling that I try to shape into sound, this time around the feeling was landing (after my last album utopia which was all island in the clouds element air and no bass) on the earth and digging my feet into the ground’

With the unveiling of the artwork, Björk also announced the release date of ‘Fossora’, scheduled for September 30. On her Instagram page, it is also possible to find a teasing that leaves in the air the imminent arrival of ‘Atopos‘, the leading single of the upcoming album. Sonically, ‘Fossora’ explores a ‘biological techno’ and includes a sextet of bass clarinets, focusing on organic sounds. It’s another album that imprints Björk’s true creative essence and one that you certainly won’t want to miss. Keep your eyes peeled!

Image Credit: rlef89 via Flickr | License: Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)