We love it when Bjork and Michel Gondry combine their brain power. It just feels so... right. Their working relationship was cemented in 1993 with Bjork's breakout hit, "Human Behaviour," and "Crystalline" will be the eighth time they've come together. The last time this duo collaborated on a music video was on "Declare Independence" back in 2007, when Bjork's last album, Volta, was released.
"Crystalline" is the first single off Bjork's forthcoming album, Biophilia, which drops Sept. 27. The video begins, and ends, in outer space, with gold meteorites filling craters, crystals bursting from the ground, and Bjork's digitized face projected above it all.
Gondry gave a little insight into the making of "Crystalline," Billboard reports:
We shot it frame by frame, and we shot it by recranking the camera and re-exposing the film many times. I decided for this that the shower of meteorite would hit the ground and produce a sound... The idea that a beam of light can have the impact to make these things move is something that intrigued me. Later on, they create some ripples-like rain. At the third verse, they create bubbles in which the metallic objects appear. All of those are the result of multiple conversations with [Björk] that were going in many directions.
"Crystalline" has a pleasing mix of squiggly, colorful illustrations and more advanced graphics. The best part kicks in at around the 1:30 point, when the music drops out, and it's just Bjork's voice and vibrant colors quietly exploding on the screen. It reminds us vaguely of Crayola Color Explosion, and we mean that in the best way possible.
Will we see more from these artists anytime soon? Back in March of 2010, Gondry made a vague reference to another Bjork collaboration that involves two words that are amazing when put together -- "scientific" and "musical."
"We have a very ambitious project, a sort of scientific musical," Gondry told Playlist. "[It's a movie], but maybe more for museums. Like a 40 minute IMAX project in 3D."
Watch one of Bjork/Gondry's classic creations, "Army of Me":