It was only last week that Bjork announced the release of her new album 'Vulnicura', but the Icelandic singer has already released it.

The follow-up to 2011's 'Biophilia' was not scheduled for release until March, but is now available digitally via iTunes.

It's not clear why Bjork brought the release forward, but she left a post on Facebook explaining the backstory behind it.

"i guess i found in my lap one year into writing it a complete heartbreak album," she wrote. "kinda surprised how thoroughly i had documented this in pretty much accurate emotional chronology .... like 3 songs before a break up and three after . so the anthropologist in me sneaked in and i decided to share them as such . first i was worried it would be too self indulgent but then i felt it might make it even more universal . and hopefully the songs could be a help , a crutch to others and prove how biological this process is : the wound and the healing of the wound . psychologically and physically . it has a stubborn clock attached to it ."

She goes on to discuss the people she worked with on the album, including producers The Haxan Cloak and Arca, and Antony - believed to be Antony Hegarty of Antony and the Johnsons - who sings with her on 'Atom Dance'.

The artwork is believed to be the below image: