Search - Fever Ray :: Fever Ray

Out of this world

zeena choudhry | san jose, ca | 05/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had heard the "If I Had a Heart" single in December of last year and had been completely floored, not only by Karin Dreijer Andersson's organic departure from the icier beats of the The Knife (her former work with brother, Olof) but by her darker, almost Shamanistic approach to her new solo work. But Heart was only a mere teaser of Dreijer Andersson's affinity for the dark, ground-down sound that I would quickly be introduced to.



Childhood frustration, anxiety and gender conflict appear to be major themes for Dreijer Andersson On "Concrete Walls" Andersson attempts to create a picture of a confined space where she battles with her own femininity--with her thick organic voice, layered with a distortion in a lower register to represent masculinity. While being seductively strangled by the tentacles of her own synthetic, woman-made beats, its clear; Dreijer Andersson doesn't want to be considered masculine or feminine, but rather simply, a voice.



The entire tracklisting of the debut album is near perfect as far is sequencing goes and the DVD set is accompanied by two covers (Nick Cave's "Stranger Than Kindness" and Vashti Bunyan's "Here Before") Especially captivating is "I'm not done" an anthemic tune, resembling a sci-fi version of Enya's "Boadicea" with the exception that the song is not so much a spooky new-age track, but rather a gender-themed war cry--with lyrics so epically audacious, they sound like a face-off between Andersson and some universal power.



When displacement can be this beautiful, it makes us question our idea of beauty. Isn't that what art is supposed to do? And that is exactly what Dreijer Andersson has done with Fever Ray. Made art.

"

Beautiful...

Wysterria | 07/16/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I happened upon The Knife by accident, browsing the cds at the library branch I work for. I liked the name of the group and checked it out based on that one thing. I fell in love. Then one of my friends on Facebook posted a clip on Youtube of the lead singer, Karin, accepting an award for her work in Fever Ray. And I knew I had to check out it out. I bought it without having heard any of it, knowing I would love it. Karin's voice is beautiful, her style unique, and her words nonsensical and yet relative. Her work both alone and with her brother in The Knife will not appeal to just anyone. But for those it does appeal to, a permanent bond will be formed."