Intense Records

Oral

Pre-order - 29/11/2024

£18.33 (£21.99 incl. VAT)

Tracklist

1. Oral
2. Oral (Olof Dreijer Remix) 
    

We’re thrilled to announce the limited edition 12” vinyl release of Björk’s captivating collaboration with Rosalía, featuring a stunning remix by Olof Dreijer from The Knife!

But this release is more than just music—it’s a “call to arms” . Like the digital launch earlier this year, Björk, Rosalía, and their labels (Columbia Records & OLI Records) are waiving all commissions and royalties. That means 100% of the profits will go directly to AEGIS, the charity founded by Björk, dedicated to fighting intensive fish farming in Iceland and protecting our oceans and environment.

Be part of something bigger. Support this cause by owning a piece of this special edition vinyl and joining us in making a difference.

‘Oral’ dates back two decades - first written by Björk between 1997’s Homogenic and 2001’s Vespertine, the track was lost to her archives after feeling like it wasn’t the right fit for an album. Björk rediscovered the song after being reminded of its name whilst on tour in Australia in March 2023, the same month a report was released about the devastating impact of poorly regulated, Norwegian-owned commercial salmon farming operations on Iceland’s native ecosystems.

After deeply resonating with the cause, and as a passionate campaigner and protester for much of her life, Björk enlisted Rosalía to help bring the song to life and in turn raise awareness of the issue. The cruel practice of open-pen farming, introduced to Iceland after Norwegian businessmen began purchasing fish farms in the country’s fjords, involves intensively farming fish by penning them into open water nets that are anchored in natural waterways, where the fish are kept enclosed until they reach marketable size. This accelerates the fish’s development and in many cases creates genetic mutations in the salmon’s DNA, as well as being a breeding ground for a number of parasites and diseases. The industry in Iceland has grown tenfold since 2014, producing under 4,000 tones to 45,000 in 2021, with it now estimated that the annual production could be up to 106,500 tonnes. Iceland has the largest untouched natural area in Europe, and the waste and pollution associated with open-pen farming threatens to permanently damage its entire ocean ecology. Lack of regulation and the industry being largely unsupervised has also meant that thousands of these genetically altered, diseased salmon regularly escape the pens and swim upriver to Iceland’s highlands, where devastating genetic mixing occurs and endangers the future of Iceland’s wild salmon population.

All proceeds from “Oral” will be used to support a legal case against the fisheries, brought forth by residents of the town of Seyðisfjörður on the eastern side of Iceland.