When Björk was a teenager, she sang in the Hamrahlíð Choir, an ensemble made up of graduates of the Hamrahlíð College in Reykjavík, whose programs have exposed more than 2,500 Icelandic teenagers to classical music. The current iteration of the choir and its founder Þorgerður Ingólfsdóttir worked with Björk on Utopia, and she made them part of her Cornucopia tour. Now the ongoing collaboration has also yielded a cappella choral versions of two Björk songs, “Cosmogony” from 2011’s Biophilia and “Sonnets” from 2004’s Medúlla. The tracks will appear on the Hamrahlíð Choir’s new album Come And Be Joyful, out next month on Björk’s longtime label home One Little Independent.

A statement from Björk:

i am so incredibly grateful that the hamrahlíð choir and it’s original conductor þorgerður ingólfsdóttir came on tour with me . i was myself in this choir when i was 16 and i think every single icelandic musician you have ever heard of was brought up and musically baptised by this miraculous woman . she is a legend in iceland and has guarded optimism and the light in the tumultuous times that teenagedom is . she has also encouraged and commissioned dozens of choral works from all of iceland’s most prominent composers for half a century or so .

i am absolutely beyond honoured

warmthness

love and respect

björk

Hear “Cosmogony” below.

Come And Be Joyful is out 12/6 on One Little Independent. Pre-order it here.