Björk
Selmasongs

"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.