"Stonemilker" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer/songwriter Björk for her eighth studio album, Vulnicura, in 2015. It was written and produced by Björk with beats by Venezuelan musician Arca. "Stonemilker" is Vulnicura's opening track, and the first of a six-part narrative that details the devastating end of Björk's relationship to American contemporary artist Matthew Barney. Björk wrote the lyrics on the same Icelandic beach where the innovative 360-degree music video was later shot.

"Stonemilker" was released as a promotional single in some territories in 2015 and received very limited airplay in a shorted radio edit. Unlike all of her previous studio albums, Vulnicura saw no commercially released singles. Despite this fact, several versions of the song have been released across a variety of different media.

Vulnicura was leaked online on 17 January 2015, two months ahead of its then unspecified March 2015 release date. Two days later the album was rush released digitally on iTunes where it was accompanied by a digital booklet featuring not just lyrics and credits, but a narrative timeline accompanying the first 6 songs on the album, detailing to the month how long before or after the breakup each song was written. "Stonemilker", the first song on the album, was written "9 months before".

On 17 December 2015, Björk appeared on the podcast Song Exploder (Episode 60) where she revealed the meaning and backstory behind "Stonemilker": "It's about someone who's trying to get emotions out of another person…. I was walking on a beach, and I was kind of walking back and forth and the lyrics kind of came along kind of without me really editing them..."

She revealed that the at one point the song had more complex, less obvious lyrics, but "…it was really maybe a bit too clever for its own good but something in me said, 'No, don't touch it. It has to be, like, almost clumsy or naive.' That's sort of the strength and weakness of the song at the same time."

Björk composed the song entirely for strings, her first use of string instruments since 2001's Vespertine. She revealed how working on 2004's all vocal album, Medulla, refined her composing skills and helped her distribute the parts: "...I did the choir arrangements totally myself. Maybe it was easier for me, because I know the instrument much better – I've been singing since I was a kid. During Medúlla I sat with the choir working out the music, the harmonies, the Italian – you know, forte, piano, sforzando, that stuff."

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Wikipedia