Björk's forthcoming album, Biophilia, is due out in just under a week now, on October 11 in North America via One Little Indian / Nonesuch Records. But you won't need to wait till then to listen to the album, as it is now streaming at NPR Music as an exclusive NPR First Listen.

Even with all of the multimedia dimensions of the Biophilia project—an app, a new website, custom-made musical instruments, live shows—the music stands apart, such that "Biophilia's songs are astounding," raves NPR's Michael Katzif. "These songs have room to breathe, employing space and silence as much as melody and harmony. The sparse instrumentation and arrangements become gorgeously intricate meditations on which to build."

Built on that foundation, the songs feature the incomparable vocals the Icelandic singer has brought to all her work. "[A]t the heart of Biophilia is, of course, Björk's iconic, haunting voice," writes Katzif. "Vocal melodies unfurl more like transcendent devotionals than typical verses, and become even more stirring when accompanied by a chorus of voices that could fill a cathedral."

Katzif concludes: "Björk is such an odd, elusive iconoclast that you truly never know what she'll try next. As always, that's part of the joy here."

Read more and listen to the album at npr.org.

To reserve your copy of Biophilia on vinyl and CD in North America, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album starting release day. To order outside North America, go to bjork.com.

Drowned in Sound is taking the full week to explore various aspects of Björk's life and career in a five-part interview series titled DiS meets Björk. The first three parts are up now at drownedinsound.com.