To risk all is the end all / And the beginning all" coos Björk on 'Moon', one of three tracks released so far from her project Biophilia, one of the more daring risks taken in recent musical history.

Biophilia comprises ten songs each with its own interactive app for an iPhone or an iPad, stunning live shows and a more conventional album release; in ambition it exceeds even the past work of a maverick like Björk. The main app's galaxy image is an apt representation of this dense and dizzying vision, which stages a meditation on the relationship between nature, music and technology.

Perhaps the most reassuring aspect of the project is that the three songs released are not swallowed in the concept that surrounds them; indeed, this might be some of her strongest material since 2001's Vespertine. That album is the most obvious reference point for the aforementioned 'Moon', in which undulating harp figures combine with a backing choir to build to a stunning crescendo before the song slowly fades out. More exhilarating is the intense breakbeat section of lead single 'Crystalline,' which bursts through the previously sparse arrangement with an electrifying jolt.

The application for 'Crystalline' demonstrates the way in which the technological facets of Biophilia don't simply embellish the songs but work to deepen our understanding of and engagement with them. In the accompanying game, you control a growing crystal and choose its route through tunnels that correspond to and play different sections of the song, thus creating your own composition. Moreover, the visuals reflect the song's structure as the cramped tunnels of the verses give way to the beautiful spatial release of the chorus's open expanse of stars, something that Björk also reflects in the song's mood as she sings of the "sparkle you become when you conquer anxiety."

The most effective app is perhaps 'Virus,' in which the user tries to prevent the onset of a viral infection of a cell. With each stage in the viral life cycle, a new part of the song begins, creating a simultaneous progression of song and natural process. If the user fights off the virus, the song stops playing, lending an inevitability to the lyrical story of painfully destructive human love.

It is this intriguing connectivity the project taps into that is its principal achievement, something the live show, with its huge visuals and use of a Tesla coil as an instrument, makes even clearer.

This risky endeavour is currently a "beginning" both in the sense of some of it being available and also in that it is a truly pioneering venture.It is too singular a project for it to be described as the future of music, but it does present a future - Björk has capitalized on the rise of touch screen technology to push music into more interactive, immersive territory than ever before.

All we can do now is follow her through the Biophilia galaxy she has created; it remains to be seen whether other artists will follow in a similar fashion, but what is certain is that Björk has paved the way.