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100

The Guardian

As unlikely a step as Fever Ray may seem for one of electronic music's most enigmatic figures, the results are triumphant.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Her eponymous debut as Fever Ray is countless times more claustrophobic and creepy than "Silent Shout."

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Delusions of Adequacy

It may not be as enigmatic as Silent Shout but if nothing else, it is a fantastic album on its own accord.

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PopMatters

Nothing that Fever Ray does is as immediate or soaring as a track like 'Marble House' but Fever Ray makes up for the lack of highs by being an even more all-enveloping experience than the last few Knife records.

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Filter

Even when you can't quite understand what she's on about, you are happily lured into a world where classic myth yearns for modern ritual, and you're quite happy to be in a place nobody will quite understand. [Winter 2009, p.106]

Pitchfork

The album moves at roughly the same pace and with the same general tone, rendering some of the songs indistinguishable at first, but committed listens will reveal this to be as nuanced and as rich of a production as anything either Dreijer has done.

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Drowned In Sound

Who knows what Knife-man Olof Dreijer will bring back from his (literal) exploration of the Amazon, intended for an electronic opera about "The Origin of Species" (due September 2009); for now, this may be his sister’s most artistically satisfying album.

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Mojo

It's captivating stuff, with the gnomic lyrics adding to the implied oppostion between the natural world and the machines used to make the record. [Apr 2009, p.108]

New Musical Express (NME)

It’s this feverishness that’s key to this magnetic and rewarding album.

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musicOMH.com

This is an odd gem of a record that should be cherished in a class of its own.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Juxtaposing foley noises, drum loops, and auxiliary click-clacking against minimalist, percussive synth lines and enormous swells of energy, the album clearly has a sonic template and a cohesion easily identifiable within the first three tracks.

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Slant Magazine

Each of these stylistic decisions work equally well, and what impresses most about Fever Ray is that none of the choices are obvious.

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Hartford Courant

Fluency aside, with the first in what is hopefully a long line of releases, Fever Ray knocks down more walls than it puts up.

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All Music Guide

With almost tangible textures and a striking mood of isolation and singularity, Fever Ray is a truly strange but riveting album.

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Q Magazine

If you ever wondered how Bjork would sound if she was caught in a snowdrift, here's your answer. [May 2009, p.112]

Under The Radar

Fever Ray dips into the uncanny valley from time to time, enough to be terrifying, but Andersson lends a more human touch to the album. [Spring 2009, p.71]

Dot Music

Karin Dreijer Andersson would probably make for a fascinating interview but her reluctance to talk about her music is a blessing. There's simply no way she'll ever live up to these sounds.

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Prefix Magazine

Even amidst amazing production by her friends Christoffer Berg and Van Rivers & the Subliminal Kid, the minimally arranged Fever Ray is best swallowed when Andersson distorts her vocal effects.

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cokemachineglow

In lieu of an actual follow-up [to The Knife's "Silent Shout"] we get something that manages to make good on two of those three elements [of the decade’s best electronic records]. I’ll take it.

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Dusted Magazine

She’s at her best when sticking to a palette of steel, indigo and black.

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Urb

Unyielding in its murkiness, but all the while strangely accessible, it is a generous full-bodied offering handed to us by these otherwise blurred figures.

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Boston Globe

Spare and quirky, like a dub remix of some forgotten 1980s Top 40 hit, it slowly, repeatedly builds to a swooping chorus all the more melodious for its relative rarity.

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Alternative Press

Fever Ray is most reminiscent of the Knife self-titled debut--which means it's merely fantastic rather than transcendent. [May 2009, p.114]

Blender

Andersson’s lyrics are often tricky to make out--can she really be singing, “We talk about love/We talk about dishwasher tablets”?—but almost every song incorporates shrewd production details, like the clog-dance percussion that kicks 'I’m Not Done' forward.

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Hot Press

Karin from The Knife makes desolate but inspiring dance record.

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Spin

Her solo debut 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.

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Uncut

This is an exercise in extravagant claustrophobia, not nostagia. [Apr 2009, p.86]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Fearghal L. gave it a10:
Album of the year by a long way and one of the albums of the decade absolutely brilliant.

Joey T. gave it an8:
For me, this is good goth music. I love the background music. Her voice is reminiscent of the 90's goth all-girl band "Switchblade Symphony" which those who like "Fever Ray" might also revel in. This album sent me to the record store as soon as I heard the first part of the first song!!! I hope we hear more good music from "Fever Ray", and I'm sorry I missed them when they came through Chicago. I hope I get a second chance.

CarolG G gave it a9:
Aurally mesmerizing.

James B gave it a9:
Wonderfully strange. Can't explain why I really like it but I do. Saw them live last week and it was a strange but brilliant gig. Recommended.

BB BB gave it a9:
One of my top faves of 2009, didn't know too much about Karin's previous project (The Knife). However, I don't think it matters, this album has really well written lyrics, creepy dark beats, sorta demonic, but it's infectious.

Clif C gave it a7:
This is one of the most constant albums I've ever heard, in its goodness I mean. BUT, it's never perfect, you keep waiting for more, you wait for something different in each song, it's TOO constant. You can get bored quickly. I would give it a 6 if the 2 last "Keep the Streets Empty for me" and "Coconut" songs were not present.

Daniel P gave it a7:
Let's not get too overexcited by this band.....having listened to it at least 10 times I would only nominate 3 songs as worth repeated listenings: the first 2 tracks and "Keep the Streets Empty". Concrete Walls is merely OK, the rest is B-side filler. Would have been an excellent EP though!

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