The Petchary is very fond of an album called “Fever Ray.” It is entirely electronic, with strained, moody vocals. It feels chilly, but one could not call it chill out music. Perhaps because the lyrics refer to empty streets, concrete walls, lighting fire in the snow, and, oh…”It’s cold outside.”
Yes, Fever Ray is from Sweden, which explains the cool. But in fact, despite its pretensions, this is a surprisingly funky set of tunes, very catchy. After a while, you find yourself singing along to the synthesizers.
Fever Ray is actually a woman, Karin Dreijer Andersson. She sings with a band called Knife and her videos for this album mainly consist of her standing, pale and huddled, with rags hanging from her limbs, on a diving board at a backyard pool. It is a dank and grey evening, and dear Karin appears to be in a bit of a trance. Not very exciting viewing – better just to listen to the music.
Anything further away from the acid blue tropical pools at Kingston’s hotels in midsummer is hard to imagine.
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