Fever Ray

by

Fever Ray

Edit

I don't think of myself as someone who gravitates towards electronic music. Maybe Fever Ray aroused some part of my brain that has been inactive since the 80's. Maybe I listened to too much beard rock last year and needed an intervention. Whatever it is, this album is ADDICTIVE.

It may or may not appeal to fans of The Knife. It might be too chill for them, but that might be fine for the rest of us. For those that don't know, Fever Ray is Karin Dreijer Andersson's solo project away from The Knife, the band she created with her brother. Their last album was a big hit in some circles. She famously talked about retiring after it came out.

This album is here to show she didn't, and in a pretty spectacular way. From her web site-

--Thus `I'm Not Done', one of Fever Ray's more upbeat moments, only reveals its true meaning in its title, a gesture of defiance against Karin's own thoughts of retirement. "That was the last song I wrote and in contrast to many tracks that are more about anxiety and depression, that one is very full of life," she says. "Sometimes, when you're as old as I am now, you think you're going to quit, and people around you think you're going to quit. But then you have days when you realise how good music can be, there's so much left to explore and so much left to do. That's why I sometimes feel I'll never quit."--

But `I'm Not Done', -though one of the finest- is not the last song on the album. Two that were probably written out of the anxiety and depression she describes follow it, and they bring the album to a breathtaking close.

Music videos of the albums first two songs can be easily found online. They are works of art unto themselves. As good as they are, and as good as the songs themselves are, they just scratch the surface of the depth and enjoyment that listening to the entire album brings. Along with albums like Fleet Foxes eponymous debut last year, and Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest coming in May, Fever Ray seems to be in on what might just be the beginning of a trend; The return of the essential complete album. The album that's too good to just download a song or two, but one where you want to own the whole thing. One you want to hold in your hands and read the liner notes while it's playing on your stereo.