Sophia Michaels
Björk seeks shelter within a slimy, cavernous rave in the music video for “Apotos,” the lead single from her forthcoming tenth studio album Fossora, set for release on Sept. 30. The single, which draws its name from the Greek word for strange, or out of place, puts connection under a microscope to answer the question: “Are these not just excuses to not connect?”
“Apotos” functions as a declarative introduction to Fossora, Björk’s first album in five years. “It is a good intro,” the musician wrote on social media. “Kinda like Fossora’s passport.” She navigates through an underground world where six bass clarinets pull her deeper into the mushroom-filled environment.
“If we don’t grow outwards towards love/We’ll implode inwards towards destruction,” Björk warns. “If my plant doesn’t reach towards you/There’s internal erosion towards all.”
Fossora, which takes its name from a feminine flip of the Latin word for “digger,” roots itself in digging into the ground. Speaking with The Guardian, Björk described the record as a “mushroom album.”
“It’s like digging a hole in the ground,” she explained. “This time around, I’m living with moles and really grounding myself.” Björk also leaned into the nesting process, tying the themes together through the shared experience of quarantining throughout the pandemic.
“It was also woven into how I experienced the ‘now’… this time around 7 billion of us did it together nesting in our homes quarantining being long enough in one place that we shot down roots,” she shared in a statement about the record.
