Consider yourself warned: this is not The Knife. Surprisingly enough, when you take Olaf out of the equation, Karin Dreijer Andersson, half of Sweden’s legendary electro-pop duo, produces another beast entirely. While the distinctive vocals and minimalist lyrics remain, Andersson sheds the lighthearted charm of The Knife on her solo debut, Fever Ray, theatrically exposing a Cimmerian, and yet, somehow ethereal underbelly: stark and moody, but unpretentious.  Structured within an uncomplicated and commanding electronic framework, her haunting songs explore themes such as, well we couldn't really tell you. Let's just say it's a mixed bag.

Written during the eight months following the birth of her second child (strange inspiration for such an ominous record, no?), Fever Ray offers us a still perplexing glimpse into the mind of that mysterious, masked Swede --  and in a valiant, if not so successful, attempt towards further illumination, two.one.five took on this laconic and soft-spoken performer.



What would the weather be like on your ideal day?
Twenty degrees and sunny.

Do you get that often in Sweden?
I guess from April until September it can be quite nice I think.  It’s a very long winter.  Actually, now we have so much snow, it came just the day before yesterday.  It has been snowing now for 48 hours. It’s so much.

Are you snowed in?
No, everything works - but it’s a lot.  We thought it would be spring soon, but it just doesn’t stop snowing.

If you were waiting in a train station, what would you be listening to?
Anything.  I have so much music I would listen to on my MP3 player -- it’s so much.  I think Frida Hyvonen. I think that I would start with her.

In an interview you mentioned that your daughter thinks you look like Kiss in your video for “If I Had A Heart”…
Yes, she thought that video was really cool because I looked a bit like Kiss, who she really admires…we listen to a lot of music at home, and she just discovered YouTube.That’s quite amazing I think. We sit there and watch a lot.  She also likes Twisted Sister.  She says she likes rock.

What’s her favorite band?
I think at this moment it’s Twisted Sister.

Have you discovered any parenting secrets?
I don’t think there are any shortcuts.  I think it’s just spending time.  That’s the key, I think.

You’ve just had a second daughter, so why do you think the music of Fever Ray has turned out so much darker than that of The Knife?
I think it’s so many questions that awake when you become a parent.  It takes time to really understand what this means, all this responsibility that you get when you become a parent.  You are responsible over a life, which is a very scary thing, I think.  It’s kind of a shock – all the new perspectives on things and how it can change so much.  So I think it’s a lot of very scary things that you discover when you get all this responsibility.

What’s different when you write for Fever Ray versus when you write for The Knife?
I think the way I work is quite similar -- like the environment and the routines and how and when I work are quite the same.  But since I wrote the Fever Ray tracks myself, I think then I just have so much more time to spend on small details and trying out things that maybe not all of us are interested to do in The Knife.  When you work with somebody else you always have to compromise, in a way, so I think I’ve really been able to dig into certain holes, areas, that I haven’t spent that much time in before.

So we’re seeing more of you?
More of my ideas, yes.

What’s the significance of the name Fever Ray?
I think I came up with it very late in the process.  I just needed a name and just tried to find something that sounded like the music -- just trying to describe the music.

How should a music video enhance the listening experience?
I really think when there’s some visual to music like a video or artwork or live scenery, when it is good it has some sort of turbo-effect on the music.  It really maximizes the expression and the feeling of the music, so I think that’s when it’s really good.  It’s not too illustrative, but it really gives the music something more than just accompaniment.  So that’s when its good, but that’s very hard to know when that appears.

What is Fever Ray live going to be like?
I’ll have a band five people on stage, including me.  I work with Andreas Neillson, who did the “If I Had A Heart” video, who also did The Knife visuals for The Knife’s last tour, he’s buildings stage set designs and costumes and masks and many many things.  So I guess it will be very theatrical and very much about something going on on stage.  I hope we can take it to the US later on.

Was your shift to solo work intentional?
I think it was very intentional because Olaf and I, we said we were going to have a break from The Knife because both of us really wanted to work on our own for a while.  We had been working together for seven years at the time and it had been very intense, so I really wanted to see what it was like to work on my own.

Are you and Olaf going to get back together?
We actually did start to work again a year ago making music for an opera about Charles Darwin, so we have been working now for a year and it will premier in September, so we have a lot of work.  It’s a Danish theatre company, they’re going to Asia also I think, but they will tour in Europe first.  I guess it’s just a matter of economy, for how long it can tour and where.

Your lyrics are very ambiguous -- do you intend for people to read into your meaning?
I think it would be very nice if they would do it for their own purpose.  I don’t think it’s a good idea to try understand music, or try to understand what it is about too much.  I think the best way is to listen and to just feel it.  I think that’s the best way to just listen to music.  Of course it’s nice if it starts ideas in the listener’s head, of course, but …