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FEVER RAY - FEVER RAY
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TITLE:
Fever Ray
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CATNO:
RABIDT039
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Vinyl record
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Dark Downbeat Electronica, Ambient, & synth Led Crossover - At first, it's a little difficult to determine where the Knife ends and Fever Ray begins. On paper, it's clear -- the Knife is the project of Karin Dreijer and their brother Olof, while Fever Ray is Karin with co-producers Christoffer Berg, Van Rivers, and the Subliminal Kid -- but the differences aren't as distinct when listening to Fever Ray the first few times.
Initially, the album's dark, frosty atmosphere feels like a continuation of the Knife's brilliant Silent Shout, and the oddly bouncy rhythms on songs like "Triangle Walks" and "Coconut" recall the duo's tropical-yet-frozen Nordic/Caribbean fusion. Eventually, though, Fever Ray reveals itself as far darker and more intimate than anything by the Knife. The Knife's spooky impulses are usually tempered by vivid pop instincts that Fever Ray replaces with a consistently eerie mood, particularly on "Concrete Walls," which feels like an even grimmer cousin of Silent Shout's "From Off to On." However, Fever Ray's mix of confessional lyrics and chilly, blatantly synthetic, and often harsh sounds makes this album as successful an electronic singer/songwriter album as Björk's Homogenic.
These are some of the most alluring and disturbing songs Dreijer has been involved in making. The excellent album opener, "If I Had a Heart," explores possibly inhuman need with a churning, almost subliminal synth and murky bass driving Dreijer's pitch-shifted vocals (which sound more like a different part of their psyche than a different character in the song); when Dreijer's untreated voice comes in, keening "Will I ever ever reach the floor?" they sound even more frail and desperate by comparison. The rest of Fever Ray follows suit, offering fragile portraits and sketches that walk the fine line between intimate and insular. Dreijer further expands on the storytelling skills they developed on Silent Shout: the characters in their songs feel even more resonant and unique, especially on "When I Grow Up," which is as fascinatingly fragmented as a child's train of thought, skipping from sentiments like "I'm very good with plants" to "I've never liked that sad look by someone who wants to be loved by you." Dreijer also has an eye for unusual details, as on "Seven"'s "November smoke/And your toes go numb." It all comes together on the haunting "Now's the Only Time I Know," where the low end of Dreijer's voice sounds especially vulnerable and the lyrics fill in just enough to be tantalizing. At times, Fever Ray threatens to become a little too mysterious, but it never sounds less than intriguing, from the layers of claps and castanets that make up the beat on "I'm Not Done" to "Keep the Streets Empty for Me"'s almost imperceptible guitars. With almost tangible textures and a striking mood of isolation and singularity, Fever Ray is a truly strange but riveting album.
Initially, the album's dark, frosty atmosphere feels like a continuation of the Knife's brilliant Silent Shout, and the oddly bouncy rhythms on songs like "Triangle Walks" and "Coconut" recall the duo's tropical-yet-frozen Nordic/Caribbean fusion. Eventually, though, Fever Ray reveals itself as far darker and more intimate than anything by the Knife. The Knife's spooky impulses are usually tempered by vivid pop instincts that Fever Ray replaces with a consistently eerie mood, particularly on "Concrete Walls," which feels like an even grimmer cousin of Silent Shout's "From Off to On." However, Fever Ray's mix of confessional lyrics and chilly, blatantly synthetic, and often harsh sounds makes this album as successful an electronic singer/songwriter album as Björk's Homogenic.
These are some of the most alluring and disturbing songs Dreijer has been involved in making. The excellent album opener, "If I Had a Heart," explores possibly inhuman need with a churning, almost subliminal synth and murky bass driving Dreijer's pitch-shifted vocals (which sound more like a different part of their psyche than a different character in the song); when Dreijer's untreated voice comes in, keening "Will I ever ever reach the floor?" they sound even more frail and desperate by comparison. The rest of Fever Ray follows suit, offering fragile portraits and sketches that walk the fine line between intimate and insular. Dreijer further expands on the storytelling skills they developed on Silent Shout: the characters in their songs feel even more resonant and unique, especially on "When I Grow Up," which is as fascinatingly fragmented as a child's train of thought, skipping from sentiments like "I'm very good with plants" to "I've never liked that sad look by someone who wants to be loved by you." Dreijer also has an eye for unusual details, as on "Seven"'s "November smoke/And your toes go numb." It all comes together on the haunting "Now's the Only Time I Know," where the low end of Dreijer's voice sounds especially vulnerable and the lyrics fill in just enough to be tantalizing. At times, Fever Ray threatens to become a little too mysterious, but it never sounds less than intriguing, from the layers of claps and castanets that make up the beat on "I'm Not Done" to "Keep the Streets Empty for Me"'s almost imperceptible guitars. With almost tangible textures and a striking mood of isolation and singularity, Fever Ray is a truly strange but riveting album.
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£25.99
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Mint (M)
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Last FM Information on Fever Ray
Please note the information is done on a artist keyword match and data is provided by LastFM.
Fever Ray is an alias of Swedish musician Karin Dreijer, formerly of The Knife. They debuted with the single "If I Had A Heart" (15 Dec 2008) under the alias, followed by the self-titled album Fever Ray (2009). Their second album, Plunge was released in October 2017 without prior announcement. Their vocal style is highly distinct - shrill and piercing, with a heavy Swedish accent and frequent use of pitch-shifting technology.
Dreijer was born on 7 April 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. In 1994, they formed the indie rock band Honey Is Cool, where they served as the lead vocalist and guitarist. Together with their brother Olof Dreijer, they formed an electronic music duo The Knife in 1999, and have spanned a series of successful and critically acclaimed albums.
What would you do if one decade into your career you suddenly saw one of your songs turned into a worldwide hit, won six Grammis in your native Sweden and your latest release was declared album of the year by one of the world’s most influential music websites? If you’re Karin Dreijer, the answer is to take a couple of years off and return as a solo artist under a new name: Fever Ray.
In Dreijer's's own words: “I had so many songs to record that I just had to make an album. I thought I was going to have a longer break but I guess it will never happen. I can't stop working. My aim was to finish the album and, now that it's done, I'm a bit restless (good that The Knife has an opera to write then). During the last years, I discovered that I like to sing too, so I hope that my newly found live band Fever Ray will make it to the stages next year. We are rehearsing and building something beautiful and brilliant." Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.