Bjork - Hammersmith Apollo

By Dean Walsh

"FANK yoo very match! I feel very lucky toe night!"

Speaking more like Dawn French's impression of her from French And Saunders than any normal human being, Icelandic pop pixie Bjork's in a good mood.

But you wouldn't guess that from the deathly slow first half of her show, part of her first proper tour in a decade.

Bjork famously wore a swan-style dress to an Oscar ceremony. Her fashion sense is still as bonkers as she wears a technicolour frock on stage, topped off by a headdress apparently made from a dozen balls of wool.

The backing singers are only slightly less eccentric, clad in orange oriental robes. At least everyone knows it will be mad with Bjork—but in a good way with her shows.

Earth Intruders, from her recent album Volta, is a great song to start with. It was made in collaboration with Madonna's new producer Timbaland.

"He asked if I wanted to make a hit song," she recalled. It's certainly the poppiest tune Bjork's done in years and gets everyone dancing—not least Bjork, who runs around like a five-year-old being chased by a wasp.

In fact, Bjork reckons Volta is a tad aggressive.

The 42-year-old, who lives in New York with her partner Matthew Barney and daughter Isadora, five, said: "Emotionally, I've been too bombastic for a while. Volta is quite macho, and my next project is going to be less like a hooligan."

Things certainly calm down a bit for the next half-dozen songs though. Antony Hegarty, singer with Mercury Prize winners Antony And The Johnsons, comes on for a duet. But their song Dull Flame Of Desire is, well, dull.

It's Oh So Quiet was Bjork's biggest hit, and that describes the by now sleepy crowd.

But just when you think Kerry Katona's Iceland ads are more entertaining, the show finally kicks into gear with her old hit Army Of Me.

A mad rave tune with lasers, Bjork and her band are dancing again, with the rest of the show a celebration. The lasers and gold glitter shower in final song Declare Independence would turn anyone into a Bjorkaholic.

Thankfully, she's still Bjorking mad.