Album: Silent Shout
Artist: The Knife
Born: Gothenburg, Sweden
Released: February 2006
Genre: Electronic
I have to confess a particular weakness for being guided by Pitchfork recommendations in my late 20s, and this was one of many albums that I read about first on that website. Nowadays, I don't tend to pay as much attention to their precise "out of 10" rankings, but I'm grateful for the way it guided me towards various albums and new music I might not have come across otherwise. Swedish siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson (Fever Ray) and Olof Dreijer (Oni Ayhun, DJ Cooloff) definitely made the sort of music that was outside my realm of experience at the time, and the weird shifts in pitch, the unsyncopated beats and Fever Ray's shrill voice made for a challenging listening experience. Then I got to track 7 on the record, Like A Pen, and everything clicked. I hadn't listened to music that exciting for some time and, after repeated listens, I realised that beneath Silent Shout's auditory tricks and sophisticated veneer was well-composed, highly listenable electropop. Bizarrely, it was a fellow Swede and indie folk singer-songwriter José González that helped to raise The Knife's profile, by covering Heartbeats from their second LP, Deep Cuts (2003). It was his cover that subsequently appeared in a Sony TV advert, but the original version is even better, a rare but wonderful latter-day manifestation of synthpop.
One reason that Like A Pen is a standout track on the album, to my mind, is that the production is more spare, allowing Fever Ray's vocals to dominate in the mix. It's also got a great hook and lovely haunted synths in the background. There's something about Fever Ray's voice that reminds me of Björk, while Radiohead's Kid A is another reference point, especially the electronic textures, distorted vocals and indie sensibility. Title track Silent Shout is another standout moment, and its deep synth sound contributes to the creation of a very dark form of house music. The Captain is glacial, almost like a haunting Joy Division track from Closer, while Na Na Na is more bouncy but no less weird. With their fondness for wearing masks, The Knife have always aimed to maintain an air of mystery, and this is something Fever Ray has continued into her solo work (including her self-titled 2009 masterpiece). Even more so than on Silent Shout, Fever Ray's debut solo LP uses her voice as an instrument that's endlessly distorted. Still Light and One Hit are particularly interesting experiments on Silent Shout in altering the pitch in Fever Ray's voice. Although The Knife were inspired by contemporary club culture and indie pioneers like Radiohead, as well as the electro-goth of The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees, they still managed to create an entirely original sound.
I have to confess a particular weakness for being guided by Pitchfork recommendations in my late 20s, and this was one of many albums that I read about first on that website. Nowadays, I don't tend to pay as much attention to their precise "out of 10" rankings, but I'm grateful for the way it guided me towards various albums and new music I might not have come across otherwise. Swedish siblings Karin Dreijer Andersson (Fever Ray) and Olof Dreijer (Oni Ayhun, DJ Cooloff) definitely made the sort of music that was outside my realm of experience at the time, and the weird shifts in pitch, the unsyncopated beats and Fever Ray's shrill voice made for a challenging listening experience. Then I got to track 7 on the record, Like A Pen, and everything clicked. I hadn't listened to music that exciting for some time and, after repeated listens, I realised that beneath Silent Shout's auditory tricks and sophisticated veneer was well-composed, highly listenable electropop. Bizarrely, it was a fellow Swede and indie folk singer-songwriter José González that helped to raise The Knife's profile, by covering Heartbeats from their second LP, Deep Cuts (2003). It was his cover that subsequently appeared in a Sony TV advert, but the original version is even better, a rare but wonderful latter-day manifestation of synthpop.
One reason that Like A Pen is a standout track on the album, to my mind, is that the production is more spare, allowing Fever Ray's vocals to dominate in the mix. It's also got a great hook and lovely haunted synths in the background. There's something about Fever Ray's voice that reminds me of Björk, while Radiohead's Kid A is another reference point, especially the electronic textures, distorted vocals and indie sensibility. Title track Silent Shout is another standout moment, and its deep synth sound contributes to the creation of a very dark form of house music. The Captain is glacial, almost like a haunting Joy Division track from Closer, while Na Na Na is more bouncy but no less weird. With their fondness for wearing masks, The Knife have always aimed to maintain an air of mystery, and this is something Fever Ray has continued into her solo work (including her self-titled 2009 masterpiece). Even more so than on Silent Shout, Fever Ray's debut solo LP uses her voice as an instrument that's endlessly distorted. Still Light and One Hit are particularly interesting experiments on Silent Shout in altering the pitch in Fever Ray's voice. Although The Knife were inspired by contemporary club culture and indie pioneers like Radiohead, as well as the electro-goth of The Cure and Siouxsie & The Banshees, they still managed to create an entirely original sound.
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