2009 was the year that I "got" the Knife, thanks to the marvelous solo debut of Karin Dreijer Andersson under the name Fever Ray. That led me back to 2006's Silent Shout, which placed high on many best-of lists that year but which eluded my ears.

With that background, I'm primed for whatever the duo has to offer from here on out, and it seems as if I'll be handsomely rewarded with their next effort. The pair, in collaboration with performance artist Mt. Sims and and musician/visual artist Planningtorock, will release the Tomorrow, In A Year, a work commissioned by Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma for its opera based on Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species. It will be available by digital download on Feb. 2, and in stores March 9.


There are certainly elements of opera in the first track released from the set, the 11-minute "Colouring of Pigeons," but it is even more interesting for the revelation it provides about the Knife and where it is capable of traveling. There is more warmth and space in the music than on past work from the duo, easily absorbing the operatic elements to create a unique and captivating hybrid. The learning curve to get there was steep, according to Dreijer:

"We’d never been to one. I didn’t even know what the word libretto meant. But after some studying, and just getting used to opera’s essence of pretentious and dramatic gestures, I found that there is a lot to learn and play with. In fact, our ignorance gave us a positive respectless approach to making opera. It took me about a year to become emotionally moved by an opera singer and now I really do."

To hear "Colouring of Pigeons," visit the band's web site.

Labels: music, opera, the Knife