| Alarm Call | |
| Cover: | Bjork alarm call.png |
| Caption: | UK CD1 cover |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Björk |
| Album: | Homogenic |
| B-Side: |
|
| Released: | 30 November 1998 |
| Studio: | El Cortijo (Marbella) |
| Genre: | Dance-pop[1] |
| Length: |
|
| Label: | One Little Indian |
| Prev Title: | Hunter |
| Prev Year: | 1998 |
| Next Title: | All Is Full of Love |
| Next Year: | 1999 |
"Alarm Call" is a song recorded by Icelandic singer Björk for her third studio album Homogenic (1997). It was released as the fourth single from the album, peaking at number 33 in the United Kingdom. The sped-up radio edit of the song was used in the 1999 film The Mod Squad.
The song, originally labelled "Jacko" on the Homogenic demo tape, speaks of reawakening through music. Björk explained: "I think that music has the power to change the things, and that's what I wanted to show on Alarm Call". It is the only single from Homogenic that was not included on Greatest Hits.
The first music video for "Alarm Call" was directed by Paul White from Me Company, the design firm that produced the artwork of Homogenic, Debut and Post, and their respective singles, and it featured Björk in a similar dress to the one featured on the Homogenic album cover along with a dance scene in the Los Angeles subway system.[2]
However, Björk was not pleased with the result and a second video was directed by fashion designer Alexander McQueen and filmed in October 1998, over a two-day period in London.[3] She told MTV News that she felt that the music video industry needed a "spank on the bum", and that McQueen was the man to do the video.
"I haven't seen many fashion shows in my life, but you go to his shows and you come out feeling like anything is possible"; she went on to describe McQueen as a "guy with a powerful and fluid mind who could direct films, build castles, and write music". He wrote up a nearly one-hundred-page treatment of his ideas for the video.[4]
It features Björk floating on a raft on a river in the jungle and her scenes are intercut with footage of snakes, crocodiles, and other animals, with Björk playing with them. The version of the song used in the video is the radio mix by Andy Bradfield and Mark Bell.
* Remix by Matmos
** Remix by Mark Bell
*** Remix by Alan Braxe & Ben Diamond
| Peak position | |
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[5] | 16 |
|---|---|
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[6] French mix | 10 |
| Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 23 November 1998 | Contemporary hit radio | One Little Indian | ||
| 30 November 1998 | |||||
| France | 4 January 1999 | Maxi CD | |||
| United Kingdom | 18 January 1999 | Box set | One Little Indian |