Fever Ray and the Genius that is Karin Dreijer

MMM I had somewhat high hopes for Fever Ray’s (aka half of the Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson) self titled debut album. This LP just ended up being a much muuuuuuuuch poorer version of the Knife’s Silent Shout and is quite different from Deep Cuts. I’ve come to the realization that I had to throw this connection between Fever Ray and the Knife away. I was gripping onto this notion so tightly because I’ve been desperately awaiting some sort of news or new material from the Knife. But Fever Ray is Karin Andersson. At first I thought it was just one big extension of “Marble House” where her and Olaf (her brother) downplayed the crazier upbeat darkness surround the Knife’s records. I was wrong about this part.

Edit: Thanks to an informant, I was told that Olof actually doesn’t make an appearance at all!

Karin says in an interview: “I already know what my own voice sounds like,” she continues, “so I think it’s much more interesting to treat it as an instrument and treat it the same way I treat other instruments. But with the vocals I cannot only change the pitch, but the gender. It’s a very fun to do things like when Olof and I change rolls and see what happens, and if you can tell if it’s me or if Olof is doing something.”

She sure fooled me! Maybe that’s why I thought Olaf was helping her out with vocals on this album. I think that’s amazing that she shifts between identities, something that most artists don’t do because they want their voice to be distinct, recognized, and immediately pointed out to. But this doesn’t change this fact for Karin. Anyone in the “indie music” world would be able to spot her voice with the tiniest of samples. Karin’s voice is unsurprisingly magnetic and is the true hero behind this album. It shapes the darkness that encompasses this LP amidst the drones and depressed hysteria. Fever Ray is truly a unique album despite unremitting sub/conscious citing of the Knife. Needless to say, even though my expectations are not met with Fever Ray, after giving it more listens, I’ve come to realize that it truly is a fantastic album. Yes.

Not only does The Knife/Fever Ray push art boundaries in the form of music, they also push the boundaries of visuals too with their unique and often dark videos. I don’t think anyone comes close to making videos as abstract and unforgettable except for maybe Sigur Ros and Bjork.

Recently, Fever Ray released a video for “When I Grow Up” which is directed by Martin de Thurrah. Absolutely fantastic. It is the first video that you can watch below!
The second video is “If I Had A Heart Video”.
The third is Röyksopp’s “What Else Is There?”; Vocals done by Karin and video directed by de Thurrah!

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