"Hidden Place" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
for her fourth studio album ''
Vespertine
''Vespertine'' is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was first released on 18 August 2001 in Japan by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Björk aspired to create an album ...
'' (2001). Written and produced by Björk herself, "Hidden Place" was released as the
lead single
A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
A similar term, "debut ...
from ''Vespertine'' on 30 July 2001 by
One Little Indian Records
One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In t ...
.
Background
In 2000, while Björk worked on the film ''
Dancer in the Dark
''Dancer in the Dark'' is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to p ...
'', she also began producing her next album, writing new music and teaming with new collaborators; she has said "''
Selmasongs
''Selmasongs: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Dancer in the Dark' '' is the first soundtrack album by Icelandic musician Björk. It was released on September 18, 2000, by One Little Indian Records to promote and accompany the film ''Dan ...
'' was the day job and ''Vespertine'' was the hobby".
Her new relationship with artist
Matthew Barney
Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967) is an American contemporary artist and film director who works in the fields of sculpture, film, photography and drawing. His works explore connections among geography, biology, geology and mythology as well ...
and the tension while filming ''Dancer in the Dark'' have been referred to as the two major forces that shaped what would become ''Vespertine''.
As the process of filming demanded her to be extroverted, the new music she was creating became hushed and tranquil as a way to escape.
Björk commissioned
Valgeir Sigurðsson
Valgeir Sigurðsson (born 18 June 1971) is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, audio engineer and musician.
Biography
Coming from a musical background, Valgeir's fascination with recording technology led to a job in a small recordin ...
to relocate some of his studio equipment from Iceland to Denmark, where ''Dancer in the Dark'' was being filmed.
While living in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
she also contacted the electronic musician
Thomas Knak
Thomas Knak is a Danish electronic musician who has also produced work under the name Opiate. He worked with Björk on her ''Vespertine'' album and has produced remixes for Bomb the Bass and Coldcut. He also produced original music for the 2003 ...
(aka Opiate), after having enjoyed his 1999 album ''Objects for an Ideal Home''.
Björk's musical taste shifted from the "clang and clatter" and "thumping
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
that characterized ''
Homogenic
''Homogenic'' is the third studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 22 September 1997 by One Little Indian Records. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell (British musician), Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B, and Markus Dra ...
'',
as she "was bored with big beats".
Björk then set to make a record with a domestic mood featuring "everyday moods and everyday noises translating into melodies and beats,"
hence its working title ''Domestika''.
As she wanted to write her own songs in
music box
A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces Musical note, musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder (geometry), cylinder or disc to pluck ...
es, Björk contacted a music box company, requesting see-through
acrylic glass
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...
boxes because she wanted it to sound "as hard as possible, like it was frozen."
She also began to use her laptop to write music, and decided to use instruments whose sound wouldn't be compromised when downloaded from sites such as
Napster
Napster was an American proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution. Founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, the platform originally launched on June 1, 1999. Audio shared ...
.
Björk completed: "I had loads and loads of beats for 'Hidden Place' but it still wasn't up enough. Matthew Herbert came for a visit in the studio and offered to do it. He ran away to his studio and came back after a few hours later with a DAT".
She explains the song's title:
'Hidden Place' is sort of about how two people can create a paradise just by uniting. You've got an emotional location that's mutual. And it's unbreakable. And obviously it's make-believe. So, you could argue that it doesn't exist because it's invisible, but of course it does.
Music and lyrics
"Hidden Place" features choirs of space sirens, and lyrically is about a new love that has a private side. "I'm not sure what to do with it or where to put it/ I'll keep it in a hidden place", Björk sings. According to ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
'' magazine, the song "hints at the extent to which her lyrics parallel their fragile musical arrangements: 'I'm so close to tears and so close to simply calling you up/ I'm simply suggesting/ We go to that hidden place'". For Ryan Schreiber of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' the track opens ''Vespertine'' with a "glitchy, almost lo-fi melodic loop, paired with the deep sub-bass attack that has dominated the low-end of Björk's music in recent years".
MusicOMH
''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...
's Michael Hubbard noted that it is reminiscent of Björk's previous single "
Hunter
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...
" (1997), although he felt the beats were not "so central this time round".
Critical reception
"Hidden Place" received positive reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
.
Greg Kot
Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
from ''
Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...
'' magazine commented that album openers "Hidden Place" and "Cocoon" "live up to their billing as sound sanctuaries, with Björk singing a barely-above-a-whisper lullaby enhanced by the plush embrace of a choir". David Fricke of ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' called it "floating beauty". British magazine ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
''s Joe Logic was also positive saying, "'Hidden Place' is a mellow and low-key opener that combines Matmos sneezing-cricket beats with deep warm bass and a distant choir. The chorus is almost mantra-like, drawing you further into this immeasurably gorgeous record". However, Steve Granlee from ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' commented that "Hidden Place" was "a subtle update" of "
Human Behaviour
Human behavior is the potential and expressed capacity ( mentally, physically, and socially) of human individuals or groups to respond to internal and external stimuli throughout their life. Behavior is driven by genetic and environmental ...
", but "it won't have any radio appeal". Katy Widder of
PopMatters
''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...
shared a similar sentiment, saying the song "is by no means top 40 material".
Music video
The
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for "Hidden Place" was co-directed by designers
M/M (Paris) and photographers
Inez and Vinoodh
Inez van Lamsweerde (born 25 September 1963) and Vinoodh Matadin (born 29 September 1961) are a Dutch-American fashion photographer duo, whose work has been featured in fashion magazines and advertising campaigns. They also produce independent a ...
. It was shot in four days in February 2001 in London.
It was originally planned for a song from ''
Selmasongs
''Selmasongs: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack 'Dancer in the Dark' '' is the first soundtrack album by Icelandic musician Björk. It was released on September 18, 2000, by One Little Indian Records to promote and accompany the film ''Dan ...
'', but Björk felt the project was more appropriate for ''Vespertine''.
The video consists of
close-up
A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, s ...
shots panning around Björk's face, as fluids flow in and out of her facial orifices. M/M (Paris) explained the concept behind the video: "We always wanted to get as close to her as we could, as we all felt she had never been portrayed as the "real" and beautiful woman she is. This is somehow
taboo
A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
, to observe a pop star with no makeup from a distance of half an inch. Then the idea of the liquid works as a visualization of all possible emotions pulsating and circulating in her very busy brain. The loop idea was a main point for us as well, trying to extend the usual time frame of pop video super-fast editing, to make it hypnotising, mesmerising and irritating, like an eternally burning fireplace."
Track listings
UK and European CD1
# "Hidden Place" (edit)
# "Generous Palmstroke"
# "Verandi"
UK and European CD2
# "Hidden Place" (acappella)
# "Mother Heroic"
# "Foot Soldier"
US and UK DVD single
# "Hidden Place" (video)
# "Generous Palmstroke"
# "Verandi"
Personnel
Credits adapted from ''
Vespertine
''Vespertine'' is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was first released on 18 August 2001 in Japan by One Little Indian Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Björk aspired to create an album ...
s liner notes.
* Written by
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
*
Programming
Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to:
Business and management
* Program m ...
– Jake Davies, Damian Taylor,
Guy Sigsworth
Allan Arthur Guy Sigsworth (born May 1960) is an English record producer and songwriter. He has worked with many artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Imogen Heap, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian ...
,
Matthew Herbert
Matthew Herbert (born in 1972), also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, Wishmountain, and DJ Empty, is a British electronic musician. He often takes sounds from everyday items to produce electronic music.
...
,
Matmos
Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo formed in San Francisco and based in Baltimore. M. C. (Martin) Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances no ...
*
Bassline
Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, and classical music, for the low-pitched P ...
– Björk
*
Choir arrangement – Björk, Guy Sigsworth and
Vince Mendoza
Vince Mendoza (born November 17, 1961) is an American composer, music arranger and conductor. He debuted as a solo artist in 1989, and is known for his work conducting the Metropole Orkest and WDR Big Band Köln, as well as arranging music f ...
*
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
Recording engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...
– Jake Davies and Damian Taylor
*
Produced by Björk
*
Mixed by
Mark "Spike" Stent
Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Release history
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Hidden Place webpage
{{Authority control
2001 singles
2001 songs
Björk songs
Elektra Records singles
Number-one singles in Spain
One Little Independent Records singles
Polydor Records singles
Song recordings produced by Björk
Songs written by Björk
UK Independent Singles Chart number-one singles