After a two-year hiatus, Björk has finally returned with a new song, “Atopos,” the first single off her upcoming tenth studio album, Fossora. The LP is due out on September 30 and follows 2017’s Utopia. Of course, fans were eager to get some new music from the Icelandic singer-songwriter after two years of total silence, and “Atopos,” which features Indonesian producer Kasimyn, quickly climbed into the Top 10 on the Genius Top Songs chart.
The song title “Atopos” comes from the Greek word for “unusual” or “out of place,” a theme Björk was inspired to explore after coming out of the global pandemic. “We all just went through an unique moment together, where we quarantined and stayed long enough in one place that we shot down roots,” Björk explained on her official Fossora album website. “I tried to capture this feeling sonically.”
For the lyrics, Björk drew inspiration from Roland Barthes’ book A Lover’s Discourse. The song finds the artist searching for common ground with another person, despite their differences. “It is about the binary spirit of human nature,” Björk explained. “Left versus right, man versus woman and so on …. the theme of the song is to overcome differences and unite.”
“Atopos” opens with the hook, where Björk questions the strength of her and the other person’s differences. Letting these differences separate them seems like the easy way out to her.
Our differences are irrelevant
To only name the flaws
Are excuses to not connect
On the first verse, Björk suggests sharing in these differences could actually be a humble learning experience—if they put in the effort to stay and work it out.
I bow to all that you’ve given me
Thank you for staying while we learn
She urges everyone to lead with love on the second verse because, in her eyes, things will fall apart without it.
If we don’t grow outwards towards love
We’ll implode inwards towards destruction
On the outro, Björk echos the idea that there’s strength in numbers, so let’s put our differences aside and join together.
Our union is stronger, our union is stronger than us
Hope is a muscle
That allows us to connect
You can read all the lyrics to “Atopos” on Genius now.
