FEVER RAY is the much-anticipated solo full-length from Karin Dreijer Andersson, the sister half of Sweden’s the Knife. As on that duo’s breakthrough, SILENT SHOUT, a potentially off-putting eeriness, exemplified most often by heavily manipulated vocals, dominates the mood. Icy clicks-and-cuts and melodies radioed in from outer space keep listeners at a distance, but it’s a pleasant aloofness, one that makes the listener want to get on the same cool page. Andersson also gives the Knife’s dance beats a back seat here, choosing to wallow in stripped-down horror (”If I Had a Heart”), strange sorta-folk (”When I Grow Up”), and warped Peter Gabriel-isms (”Concrete Walls”).

Tracklisting
1. If I Had A Heart
2. When I Grow Up
3. Dry And Dusty
4. Seven
5. Triangle Walks
6. Concrete Walls
7. Now’s The Only Time I Know
8. I’m Not Done
9. Keep The Streets Empty For Me
10. Coconut
11. If I Had A Heart [Multimedia Track]

Professional Reviews
Spin (pp.78-79) – “[The album] slightly tones down the Knife’s electro innovation but turns up the creepy affect, making lyrically tender tracks like ‘Concrete Walls’ and hallucinatory sketches like ‘When I Grow Up’ into reverse Rorschachs…”

Alternative Press (p.114) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “It’s the perfect soundtrack to a midnight walk through a Swedish winter: cold, crisp and gorgeous, with shadows and light intertwined.”

Blender (Magazine) – 3.5 stars out of 5 — “[A]lmost every song incorporates shrewd production details, like the clog-dance percussion that kicks ‘I’m Not Done’ forward.”

Pitchfork (Website) – “In addition to many of the same plasticky percussions and goofy synth sounds that the Knife made their stock in trade, FEVER RAY also brims with fragile, more articulated sounds.”

Clash (magazine) (p.110) – “‘If I Had A Heart’ is a great opener — a hypnotic and dark slab of melancholic ambience with much of the album following suit. Cinematic in its scope, the quality never drops…”