‘Unison’: Mabe Fratti’s favourite Björk song
Mexico-based experimental musician Mabe Fratti is a force to be reckoned with. Her musical interests began as a child in Guatemala, where she learned to play the cello. Her practices were soundtracked by classical music and Christian songs before she discovered the magic of file sharing through software like LimeWire. This opened the performer’s eyes to just how vast the musical landscape was, and so she began experimenting with a multitude of genres in which to compose.
At first glance, it could be difficult to draw out any particular influences in Fratti’s music. Her work is incredibly unique and has been described as unbound by genre. However, if in desperate need to categorise, Vidiro received a description of “somewhere between jazz and chamber pop”. The record, which was recorded with Fratti as an instrumentalist in the group Titanic, received critical acclaim. Other projects in recent years have been with the collective Amor Muere, namely the album A time to love, a time to die, are not only an exploration but a complete embrace of defining genre.
The brave, unapologetic experimentalist is a musical figure that we can all aspire to be. But when running through her influences, Fratti had a definite contender in mind: Björk. In showers of praise, Fratti attributed the role of a teacher to her for being a pioneer in introducing the avant-garde to the mainstream. An absolutely appropriate declaration.
A young Fratti would play the Vespertine CD over and over again, unaware of which tracks were singles and which were simply album features. She had selected a stand-out favourite and was struck with bewilderment upon finding out that the closing track, ‘Unison’, was not a single. It was that good.
When sharing her deeper thoughts and feelings on ‘Unison’, Fratti comments, “The arrangements are super graceful. It’s kind of fun, kind of romantic, and the voices in it are so beautiful.” A wonderful summary of what it means to not surrender to the boundaries genre can impose. Just little snippets of a plethora of concepts, feelings, and sounds can open up endless possibilities for the creator. It’s then unsurprising that Björk continues to teach the most impressive experimentalists on the radar.
There was a particular concern with the placement of such a special song on the record, as Fratti has speculated that “people used to put their least favourite song at the end of their albums”. This is perhaps giving too much credit to the principles that were intact in the days of vinyl pressing. The fidelity is worse the closer the grooves are to the centre. But, come on, that is not something Björk would need to concern herself with.
Even if it were, ‘Unison’ achieves a sense of enchantment beyond its existence as a material recording. “There’s a live version that I was obsessed with too, which might have been the Royal Opera House recording with the choir and the orchestra,” the Guatemalan cellist shared. It’s always a relief to realise your favourite songs are just as good, if not better, live. It provides a deeper connection with a different version of the same song, regardless of where it is placed on the tracklist.
