[8] The same day of the single's release, Björk announced the album's title, Utopia, during an interview with Nowness, stating she had "a thousand name suggestions" and "couldn't think of anything better" but it was open to change.

[18] In a statement, Björk explained, "Utopia is so much about birdsong and sonically [sic] the mutation between synth/bird, bird/flute, flute/synth... so I got very excited when i found these handmade wooden flutes imitating precisely particular birds."

[22] Björk stated that the album is an exploration of utopia, with its writing process coinciding with her own personal, political and environmental concerns.

[25] "I obviously saw a gigantic musician in [Arca], and I felt that [s]he had gone into my world with such elegance and dignity and interpreted it, helped me [with] what was there, that I wanted to meet on a more equal basis.

Arca had encouraged her to pursue a direction she'd hinted at on obscure cuts like "Batabid", a "Pagan Poetry" B-side, and "Ambergris March" from Drawing Restraint 9.

According to Björk, their collaboration was "a musical conversation that was cross-generational, cross-Atlantic, h[er] encouraging me to go into this area that I sort of suggested years ago, but didn't necessarily go all the way".

[22] Björk said that air was a conscious, stylistic choice for the album after frequently composing for strings arrangements in her previous work: "I started a 12 piece Icelandic flute section and spent a few months recording and rehearsing with them [...] We decided to have synths that have a lot of air sounds in them and flutes that sound synthy.

[26] The Dazed article went on to reveal that the tranquil sounds of bird calls bridge a number of the tracks together, a similar flourish to her 2007 album, Volta.

The single version is slightly different from the final album mix, with the bird song that accompanies the flute and vocal intro absent.

"The Gate" was directed by Björk's frequent collaborator Andrew Thomas Huang and debuted to critical acclaim, eventually being named the best music video of 2017 by Pitchfork.

The doorway lies within the wound from Vulnicura, which now appears transformed into a prismatic portal channeled between the chests of two lovers.

Not lovers in the quotidian romantic sense, but in a broader cosmological way... "The Gate" is a declaration of hope sung by a woman refracted and re-formed into a luminous whole".

[40] Fashion magazine Vogue praised this quality, declaring it "one of her most restrained moments in recent memory... despite her Gucci platforms".

In addition to her yellow Gucci shoes, Björk wears a ruffled, blue semi-sheer tulle jumpsuit by British designer Pam Hogg.

[41] Björk's makeup was the work of Berlin-based drag artist Hungry, who also collaborated in the album's cover art.

[43] It was directed by Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones and features Björk "in yet another one of her fantastical worlds, this one populated by flutes and blue birds and soft pink viscera.

It depicts Björk's rebirth with "the singer emerging from a womb, before entering a fantasy world as a fiery, feathered, winged creature" and has been described as "artfully disturbing".

Both Björk and Arca addressed the controversy, with Arca writing on Instagram, "so many comments from ppl saying i should stay away from björk, ruined the arisen video by appearing or whatever .. when i've clicked thru to ur profiles i've only found faces that look sweet, soft body language and tender eyed selfies!

Björk replied to Arca's message later, comparing Arca's appearance in the video to the late British musician Mark Bell's appearance in her 2008 video for "Declare Independence", both of whom co-wrote the respective songs: "I am surprised why some of my fans have a difficulty with this," and asked fans "be open minded to the complexities of musical union between generations and different sexual orientations.

"[51] In a social media post, Björk revealed her "sublime gratitude for (her) 18 months of work" with Gremmler and "the ambiguity of that meeting point between a song and a moving image.

"[52] On 6 August 2019, the music video / digital projection for "Losss" premiered on YouTube, again directed by Gremmler, which Rolling Stone called "mind-bending".

On 2 November, another live date was announced, this time at the Aarhus in Denmark as part of the Northside Festival, to be held on 7 June 2018.

[63] Reviewing Utopia for The Boston Globe, Terence Cawley found that the "both resolutely avant-garde and absolutely beautiful" album showcases Björk and Arca "pushing each other to create something entirely unique".

[21] Kitty Empire of The Observer stated that Utopia largely eschews the "austere, extreme" themes of Vulnicura and instead "harkens back to the nature love of older albums such as Biophilia and Vespertine, and the default lust for life Björk has exhibited throughout her long career",[70] while Will Hermes of Rolling Stone remarked that it "radiates playfulness and pleasure".

[73] Heather Phares of AllMusic found that lyrically, the album is not "quite as idyllic as its title implies, but its mix of idealism and realism makes it an even greater success as a manifesto for radically open love and as a document of thriving after loss.

[67] The Daily Telegraph critic Neil McCormick found that the album lacked the emotional focus of Vulnicura, adding that its concept of "women fleeing patriarchy to form an eco-island community" was largely indecipherable from the lyrics.

[75] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian felt that despite the "enormous amount of thought and care... expended on the sound of the album", it lacks strong melodies to anchor several of its tracks.