(Credit: Bjork)

Björk’s former Sugarcubes bandmate, Siggi Baldursson, has reminisced about their time together in the group and revealed the Icelandic singer brought ‘Human Behaviour’ to the band.

Before going solo in 1993 with Debut, Björk was part of the Sugarcubes, who had phenomenal success as a group from Iceland and even had the honour of performing on Saturday Night Live. They disbanded in 1992, and then Björk went her own way, but one of her biggest songs was originally intended to be for her former outfit.

“Björk was just 16, but even in soundcheck, it was pure performance,” Baldursson recalled in a new edition of Uncut. “Just so much raw power. Seeing her sing on stage for the first time, taking you by surprise – that’s something you don’t forget easily, even though you work with a person for years.”

Baldursson then discussed the creative methods of the band, and added: “You couldn’t really bring finished songs to rehearsal. You could bring ideas and then we would work from them, feed off each other’s ideas and jam it out and mould these things like clay. But it was becoming quite obvious to us all that she needed another outlet for her ideas and creativity”.

He continued: “I remember she brought an early version of ‘Human Behaviour’ for us to work on, but it never quite worked with The Sugarcubes.”

Meanwhile, Björk has recently released a podcast series deep-diving her discography called Björk: Sonic Symbolism. In a press release, the Icelandic singer said: “When I get asked about the differences of the music of my albums, I find it quickest to use visual short cuts. That’s kind of why my album covers are almost like homemade tarot cards”.

“The image on the front might seem like just a visual moment, but for me it is simply describing the sound of it. I try to express it with the colour palette, the textures of the textiles, with what I am holding, the posture I am in, and the angle of it shows its relationship to the world.”

Listen to ‘Human Behaviour’ below.

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