Visually, too, the 42-year-old singer's style is her own. She leads in a way the likes of Madonna can only dream of (she wrote Bedtime Story for Madge). Pictures show she retains the impishness fans remember from her days as frontwoman in The Sugarcubes, with whom she made her name, and her videos are more often sensual art-house than MTV. Bjork is to appear in Hong Kong next week as part of her world tour to promote her most recent album, Volta, which explores humanity's imprint on the world through typically unusual arrangements of Icelandic horns, African rhythms and strings from China.

On the album, Bjork worked with such diverse influences as Malian kora player Toumani Diabate and American producer Timbaland, and it has proved her durable appeal, going into the top 10 in the US and Britain.

'I'm very excited,' she says.

Bjork is full of energy for the Hong Kong gig, her first here in 10 years.

'I always hope for the best, but my favourite thing about live music is that you never know. There is a big risk factor.'

Bjork is well known for her sense of theatricality. Her stage costumes have included a huge red balloon dress, a multicoloured Teletubby suit and an ornithological outfit featuring feathers spiralling around her ears. For the Hong Kong show she will be backed by a 10-piece brass band from Iceland and several of her Volta collaborators, including producer Mark Bell and drummer Chris Corsano.

Today Bjork seems settled. She shuttles between Iceland and the US with her partner, artist Matthew Barney, and their daughter, Isadora, but she has struggled with the limelight. Her poor relationship with the tabloid press vividly came to light in 1996, when she attacked a journalist at an airport in Bangkok, saying he had been hounding her and her then 10-year-old son, Sindri, for days, and she assaulted another paparazzi photographer in New Zealand last month.

She says she left her adopted London home at the end of the 1990s because she wanted to escape Britain's tabloid frenzy. Nowadays, with less press-pack interest, Bjork is more likely to be portrayed as an unusually gifted artist - albeit a kooky one.

'I like nerds,' she says, when asked about her reputation. 'It just means you are very interested in something, that you will give all of [yourself], even if other people don't get it. I feel all people have a little [part of] them that is a bit nerdy.'

One event that cemented her reputation for oddness was the swan dress she wore to the 2001 Oscars, particularly as she paused at certain points along the red carpet to set down golden eggs. 'I have never done the typical famous pop star stuff,' she says, despite having a string of high-profile relationships with bad-boy stars such as trip hop maestro Tricky and drum'n'bass musician Goldie.

'Off stage I only do [normal things],' Bjork says. 'I don't go to premieres, award ceremonies - once every five years maybe. I don't have bodyguards, so my life didn't change much after I became famous. Except the paparazzi, perhaps, but I try to avoid them as much as possible. I have no interest in being tabloid fodder. I'm a musician.'

Bjork's first English solo album, Debut (1993), was named album of the year by British music weekly NME and achieved platinum status in the US. Its experimental approach to dance music still sounds fresh. Her follow-up albums include Post (1995) and Homogenic (1997), a dark, string-washed electronica album, which reflected the horror of the previous year, when a fan mailed an acid bomb to her home and then video-taped his suicide.

Vespertine (2001) won rave reviews and seemed to show her in a happier mood, and 2004's Medulla saw her break new ground as an album built mainly on layered vocals. She has also had film roles, and won a best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 for her performance in Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the Asian tsunami in 2004, Bjork has developed a political side, speaking out about the racism and patriotism she says has swept the US under President George W. Bush, donating all the proceeds from her album Army of Me to Unicef for tsunami relief and appearing as one of the headline acts at a Live 8 anti-poverty campaign concert.

'I did collaborate with Unicef,' she says. 'I gave them all the money from one album I made and they invited me to Banda Aceh to show me what they did with the money.

I didn't use to think too much about politics but after living in Manhattan, especially after 9/11, it was impossible not to speak out.'

She's working on an album of live sessions and says her current top acts are Modeselektor, a German electronic two-piece admired by Radiohead's Thom Yorke, and MIA, a British-Sri Lankan MC influenced by dancehall and bhangra.

'It's good,' she says of the live session so far. 'My record company is deciding what to do with it, but after Volta I am free from all contracts, similar to Radiohead.'

Bjork, Volta Tour, Feb 28, 8pm, AsiaWorld-Expo, HK$480, HK$780 HK Ticketing. Inquiries: 3128 8288