Björk Announces Cornucopia Movie Release

Back in 2019, Björk staged a series of elaborate theater concerts called Cornucopia, which we described as "a sensory feast." She brought back the Cornucopia production post-pandemic in European arenas, writing at the time that Cornucopia was always intended to "be a world" for both her 2017 album Utopia and "the album after that .... which is now out there," 2022's Fossora. A Cornucopia book came out last fall, and today Björk announced that the Sept. 1, 2023 Cornucopia performance in Lisbon was filmed for a new high-tech concert movie. The film will premiere in part this Friday night on Apple Music and Apple TV+ before the full version screens in movie theaters eventually.

In a statement on her social media accounts, Björk said that after creating VR worlds to go along with her albums, she wanted to create "a fully-immersive experience" for her concerts: "my intention was to bring what we had created for 21st-century VR into a 19th-century theatre - taking it from the headset to the stage." The production involved "27 moving curtains that captured projections on different textures and LED screens," she explained. She added, "i also wanted to feature bespoke instruments: a magnetic harp, an aluphone, a circular flute, and a reverb chamber, specially built with an audio architect to enhance the most intimate version of a performance—in a personal chapel." The movie is co-produced by Talkhouse, and its live-recorded songs will be available to stream in spatial audio on Apple Music.

To promote the Cornucopia movie premiere, Björk sat for an interview with Apple's Zane Lowe, billed as her first on-camera interview in a decade. The interview will premiere this Thursday, Jan. 23 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET on Apple Music 1. The movie itself will hit Apple Music and Apple TV+ this Friday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. PT / 10 p.m. ET.

In other Björk x Apple business, on New Year's Eve she did a DJ set for Apple Music Live, and as of this month all her albums except Biophilia were mixed for Dolby Atmos on Apple Music.

Read Björk's statement about the movie and watch a preview clip below.

i am so thrilled to share an hour excerpt of the Cornucopia concert film here with you online .
the full version will be played later in theatres .
this has been a long journey with hundreds of people helping out . i am so beyond enormously grateful to every single one of them .

i feel the modern concert film is a matriarchially friendly construct , welcomed in the current climate . where female musicians can share their worlds uncorrupted . in cornucopia , i was joined by musical director and multi instrumentalist bergur þórisson , percussionist manu delago , flute septet Viibra , harpist katie buckley and the hamrahlid choir .

i spent last decade working with 360-degree sound and visual software in virtual reality and animation, creating Biophilia and later Vulnicura as a VR album. i was deeply inspired by the idea of a fully-immersive experience spreading Utopia and Fossora into fully surround speakers. my intention was to bring what we had created for 21st-century VR into a 19th-century theatre - taking it from the headset to the stage.

this vision was realised with 27 moving curtains that captured projections on different textures and LED screens, creating a digitally animated show : a "modern lanterna magica" for live music. i also wanted to feature bespoke instruments: a magnetic harp, an aluphone, a circular flute, and a reverb chamber, specially built with an audio architect to enhance the most intimate version of a performance—in a personal chapel.

throughout this tale, there is a subplot woven in: a second story of an avatar—a modern marionette who alchemically mutates, from puppet to puppet, from the injury of a heart wound to a fully healed state.

i hope you enjoy it.

warmthness,

björk