Fever Ray

Karin Dreijer Anderssen is one half of the Swedish electronic brother/sister duo The Knife. A couple of years ago, they surprised everyone by coming out with a breathtaking CD called Silent Shout. It appeared in a majority of end of the year best lists, including my own. Musically, The Knife was not original, using pretty bare boned, Asian themed electronics. What separated them were their odd lyrics and heavily pitch shifted and treated vocals. You never knew from song to song what they would do with their voices, and it created a wonderful tension.

Karin decided to take a break from her brother and recorded under the moniker Fever Ray. This first release does not stray much from The Knife's template, but it is subtly different; the lyrics are far more personal and intimate, and the music is more subdued and haunting. Hardly any of the songs rise above a whisper, and only a few have danceable beats. In an article I read interviewing her, Karin said he composed everything on her laptop with the Ableton Live software. The effect is of someone locked away in a room, pouring out their heart. The CD reminds me a lot of Bjork's Vespertine.

The first single, "If I Had A Heart" provides a good overview of the entire CD. Below is the video for the song:



The song appears to be about greed, whether monetary or emotional. The lyrics are very pointed and honest.

"This will never end
cause I want more
more, give me more, give me more

If I had a heart I could love you
if I had a voice I would sing
after the night when I wake up
I'll see what tomorrow brings."

Of course, the video for the song is very creepy and haunting. What I have always liked about The Knife and now Fever Ray is that they never do anything half-heartedly, they make sure everything from the packaging to the promotional videos are of great quality.

Although the singles released from the CD are brilliant, they are not my favorite songs on the CD at all. My favorite is probably "Dry and Dusty." It has minimal percussion, almost like a heartbeat. Karin's voice is so heavily treated it does not even appear to be female, let alone human. The song appears to be about a couple, now older and reflective, and possibly in the early stages of Alzheimer's, looking back on their past:

"Never leave me
walk close beside me
your hand my hand
fits so easy

No tomorrow
let us stop here
we did some great things
or didn't we."

It is a very haunting and touching song.



Another one of my favorite songs is "Keep The Streets Empty For Me." It has a vaguely American Indian feel to it, with a very methodical, ceremonial beat and they way Karin sings the lyrics. It also reminds me somewhat of some of the more dirge like songs on Talking Head's Remain In Light CD. The song seems to be about reincarnation, with lyrics such as:

"I will never disappear
for forever, I'll be here

Whispering
morning keep the streets empty for me."



The album closes with the almost seven minute song "Coconut." It is a slow-building song with a Caribbean feel to it. The lyrics appear to be about how things got strained between her and her brother Olaf after the long promotional tour for Silent Shout. Apparently, Olaf is on some island working on a opera about Charles Darwin. The song feels like it was created on a beach, with lyrics like this:

"Open atmosphere
take me anywhere
take me there

(oh oh oh oh)

We have water mouth
sand in pockets and a strained household."



The CD is not as immediate as Silent Shout. Most of the songs tend to drift into each other with seemingly little to distinguish them. But over several listens, it appears to be a song cycle, and the individual songs start to show their distinguishing characteristics. It is a challenging listen and definitely not an easy listen. You feel like you are privy to some of Karin's most intimate and pure thoughts. It is well worth the journey, and one of my favorite Cd's of the year so far.