Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
Mojo
NME	8/10
Pitchfork	8.4/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	B+

Medúlla is the fifth solo album by Icelandic musician Björk, released on 30 August 2004 by One Little Indian. The title derives from the Latin word for "marrow". The album is almost entirely a cappella and constructed with human vocals. Medúlla received two Grammy Award nominations and reached number one in several record charts.

The album cover for Medúlla was photographed by Inez and Vinoodh in London, on 28 June 2004, and designed by M/M Paris. It features Björk wearing a mask made of hair, which was made specifically for the shoot, a black dress and a necklace that is made of black "bones" that says "Medúlla". The hair mask was created by Shoplifter, an Icelandic Björk's friend. The artist stated that in 2004, she had a solo show at ATM Gallery, where she showed a wall mural made of brown braids. Björk appreciated it, and then invited her to work on creating a hair sculpture to support her idea for the Medúlla's character. She also explained that because the album was entirely recorded with voices, the singer did not want to wear clothes but more things that were made of something from the body. Shoplifter complemented by saying,

"For the album we tossed ideas back and forth, I sent her endless references of extreme hairstyles from the past. Björk wanted it to have a darkness about it, like a warrior or a Valkyrie, like somebody fierce. It felt like a roar or a rumble coming from the gut, it was coming from a dark place. It was a very strong character that she developed around the music, and a human hair wig was basket-woven into a helmet that I would install and add it together with her hair".

Photographer Inez van Lamsweerde said that they "were all inspired by women's handicrafts and this idea of being in your own cocoon in your home, with your family, and this reclusive character that hand-makes the whole world around her". The hairpiece was part of a 2015 MoMA retrospective on the singer, titled Björk. In an interview with Style magazine, Shoplifter said about her part at the exhibition, explaining it dedicated a room to each album of Björk's career, with the Medulla section having a mannequin in the likeness of Björk wearing the Alexander McQueen–designed bell dress she wore in the video for her song "Who Is It".

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Wikipedia