Fever Ray – Fever Ray (2009) [Mute] // Grade: A

With no set (or announced) plans for a follow-up to 2006′s epic Silent Shout, Karin Dreijer goes solo to appease hungry fans with an album that for all intents & purposes could have been Silent Shout’s follow up. Karin Dreijir does no drastic departures sonically from what she already established with The Knife.  Synths are still the dominant instrument and She’s still is using those creepy pitch shifted vocal effects to their fullest.  So what does set Fever Ray apart form The Knife? On the surface not that much, yet if you’re a discerning enough listener you’ll pick up on some subtle yet profound differences. The most obvious one being the albums much slower pace (like synthpop Screwed ‘N Chopped), which is of course in stark contrast to The Knife’s more dancier tempo, but it’s hardly defines these two bands/projects apart. Over the course of three albums, each one bettering it’s predecessor, The Knife seem intent on pushing synth/electropop to extremes it has yet seen. Silent Shout saw the band infuse more and more atmospheric and Prog nuances than ever before. Fever Ray’s debut seems intent on carrying that torch and exploring the depths of the synth based progressive/art rock that has much more in common with Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno than Depeche Mode. I feel like this album is the heir apparent to the mantle departed by Peter Gabriel after IV (Security) before he got side tracked with new wave & world music.

Prog albums have a tendency of collapsing under the weight of their own ambition, but thanks to Dreijer innate sense for rhythms and her carefully planned tempo shifts the album feels sprawling even when it slows to a snails pace. It’s rare for a a non dance album to  get your body to sync with it’s pace this effortlessly. Fever Ray have achieved as much by crafting rhythms off the shivers up and down your spine that it’s mood imposes.

For a long while now I’ve felt that the Knife were one of the most exciting bands currently recording music. This Fever Ray project only goes to further cement that opinion for me.

- My Pal the Crook