Fever Ray

As it says in the album notes Karin Dreijer Andersson is Fever Ray. The 34-year-old Swede created the concept and content of the Fever Ray project during a period that followed the birth of her second baby in 2007. At this time she became highly creative with her mind in an awake but exhausted state that seemed to heighten her senses.

The results of this most fertile period of her life are encapsulated in one of the most intriguing and enjoyable albums of 2009. Fever Ray is constructed on highly original electronic foundations, the sound having an almost far eastern or Japanese flavour to it but played with traditional instruments such as guitars and congas. The atmosphere is dark, brooding but mysterious throughout. The lyrics are abstract and oblique, such as “we talk about love, we talk about dishwasher tablets, and we dream about heaven.” The two voices integrate cleverly with the instrumentation, the higher female one obviously Andersson’s, but the deeper one, not credited on the album, so maybe it’s Karin’s again pitch shifted.

Similarities? Well, Bjork would be a fair one to put forward. Both are diminutive characters and strange in nature. But I would suggest the strangeness is different; Bjork is very much trying to push out to the extremes of what constitutes music while Karin is very much aiming to blend inside what she has created. This is borne out at interview where she has said, “I just think if you create good music, as art it has its own value, and I don’t think so much that it has to do with the person behind it. My music is a lot of everything.” It’s no surprise then that the live performances and videos often have the Andersson face blotted out with extravagant white paint and wild hair extensions.

Perhaps then a better comparison would be Tangerine Dream. The Tangs used to hide themselves behind their stacks of electronic equipment on stage and the emphasis was very much on building mood through mesmerising improvisation. There is the same feel in a way with Fever Ray but the music is somehow less self-indulgent with variety being built into much shorter pieces. In fact, this is where the album really scores because it is constructed around a conventional 12-track format with the individual songs sufficiently strong to leave a real lasting impression.

It’s a shame then that Fever Ray after being busy throughout 2009 will play their final concert on 5th December at the Forum in London. Karin will probably return to collaborating with her brother Olaf in the group called the Knife, who produced two very well received albums prior to 2007. Whatever she does though her name is certainly one to look out for.

Favourite tracks on the album are When I Grow Up, Seven and I’m Not Done. Having said this the whole album is consistently good and when I came to burning the album on to my iPod all twelve tracks went across. This is a rare occurrence for me and the sign of an exceptional album.