Bjork Announces All-Strings Version of ‘Vulnicura,’ Debuts Updated ‘Lionsong’

Björk will release an all-strings version of her most recent full-length, Vulnicura, which landed earlier this year.

On Vulnicura Strings (Vulnicura: The Acoustic Version), the Icelandic artist extracts the album’s beats and leaves only the singer’s vocals and string arrangements. The album features the world’s only viola organista, an instrument originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci but constructed by Slawomir Zubrzycki in Poland, where Björk recorded with it. According to the singer's website, the viola organista employs “a friction belt to vibrate individual strings (similar to a violin), with the strings selected by pressing keys on the keyboard (similar to an organ).”

Ahead of the album’s release, Björk has shared the updated version of “Lionsong,” which can be heard in the video at the top of the page. The new take swaps out the glitchier elements of the original, emphasizing the rich string arrangements and making the early moments of the singer's breakup chronology all the more striking (“Maybe he will come out of this loving me / Maybe he won’t / I’m not taming no animal,” Björk sings).

Vulnicura Strings will be available as a digital download and CD on Nov. 6 (provided this one doesn’t leak ahead of time like its predecessor). It will be released on vinyl on Dec. 4. Pre-order the album right here.