Drops: Bjork's 'Biophilia' with iPad apps

Björk has always been about the grand statement.

After launching a career in groundbreaking dance music, she shifted to icy electronic music ("Homogenic") and built an entire a cappella album ("Medulla"). But what happens when her latest development isn't exactly about the music?

The hook on her latest album, "Biophilia" (Nonesuch), is that all the songs come with iPad apps to enhance the experience. That's ambitious artistically but not necessarily musically.

Much of "Biophilia" draws from previous Björk incarnations, especially the spare, swirling electronic beauty of the "Vespertine" era. The layers of plinky prettiness of "Moon" and remarkably straightforward "Cosmogony" show off her clear vocals and a simple interest in astronomy.

Björk offers a bit of her unique take on the world in the gorgeously memorable "Virus," where she poetically declares over a clatter of chimes and a trip-hop beat, "Like a virus needs a body, a soft tissue feeds on blood, some day I'll find you." It's that kind of off-kilter point-of-view that is too often missing on "Biophilia," as if her creative energy was pointed elsewhere instead of the actual songs.

"Biophilia" could also use an injection of dance-floor swagger at times. When the pounding, drum 'n' bass rhythm arrives halfway through the lovely "Crystalline," it reminds us of all the wild sonic places Björk has been and how much fun that trip can be. "Biophilia," though pleasant enough, feels like a sonic staycation.

BJÖRK

'Biophilia'

THE GRADE B+

BOTTOM LINE Not a great leap forward, just a slight twist