THE NEW FEVER RAY: a sharp ‘plunge’ into pop.
After an 8 years of waiting, Karin Dreijer finally released her second studio album “Plunge” under the name of Fever Ray. While the record is less dark and nightmarish than her 2009 effort “Fever Ray”, it succeeds in the fact that Dreijer has created one of 2017’s kookiest pop albums. “Plunge” is her most direct, political and, strangely, her most accessible work to date while still staying true to her roots.
On the morning of October 27th, 2017, fans of The Knife, one of Sweden’s most innovative electronic bands, were floored to realized that one half of that now disbanded duo released her second studio album titled “Plunge”. Karin Dreijer and her brother, Olaf, are two of the music industry’s most mysterious figures. After taking a break after the critical and commercial success of their 2006 album “Silent Shout”, Karin Dreijer decided to go solo and created her Fever Ray persona which further extended their sound into more experimental territory.
While 2009’s “Fever Ray” sounded like the soundtrack to a horror film while also incorporating themes of motherhood and child rearing, “Plunge” dives into an abstract pop world all about sex, gender and shameless political commentary.
Opening track “Wanna Sip” begins with the drone of a deep synth followed by the glassy jolt of a rattle. “I wanna love you but you’re not making it easy” says Dreijer. This track about pure infatuation sinks its teeth into what it means to love someone who’s incompetent to reciprocating the same desires. As the heavy bass bounds up and down, Fever Ray continues to build on the lustful element to its theme by stating “I’m kinda hooked on your scent” insinuating that she’s fixated on the pursuit on having every part of this person even if the loving is hard.
Interestingly, one may listen to this and have the feeling that her object of desire is a woman and that Dreijer may have taken on the role of the male. Lyrics like “I wanna peek/I wanna sip” and “something made a little opening/I wanna come inside” suggest that the narrator wants to sneak a peek of a woman’s vagina while also fantasizing about having sex with her. This isn’t the only gender bending moment on “Plunge”. The song “To The Moon And Back” directly says, “I want to ram my fingers up your pussy”. Whether this is a lesbian, bisexual or a sheer gender flip is unknown, but it adds to the depth and her stance on gender fluidity which has been prevalent in her past work.
Like I said, this is in many ways Dreijer’s vision of a pop album. Sonic textures throughout the album are brighter and less chilling than her previous work, but this is in no way a sell out. The hallmarks of The Knife are still there, like their blend of squeaky synths and Asian influences that populated The Knife’s early albums. Instead of focusing on a more introspective tone, Dreijer is front and center the whole time with a lot to say.
Album highlight “This Country” is a flat out rejection on Western standards. Probably the most buzzed about verse on the track is when she shouts “Free abortions!/Clean water!/Destroy nuclear!/Destroy boring!”. And effectively, she slaughtered boring by slapping the listener with her crystal clear message. At her most direct, Fever Ray isn’t afraid to make her audience squirm, and that’s the point. What better way to take a stand by pulling your audience in with seemingly innocent hooks like “it’s not hard to love me” and then knocking them out with a zinger about abortions and clean water?
“An Itch” is second to last on the album and is probably the most human song featured on the record. The song’s best line is, “Imagine touch by somebody who loves you.” If you think about it, when was the last time you were touched by somebody who loved you?
I know some people out there are in committed relationships, but if you’re a college student like me, it’s hard to see this play out in real life. In a world of online dating, casual sex, crushes and virtual communication, we get so swept up in this chaos that we forget what it’s like to have physical human contact. Yes, you can count casual sex as contact, but is it actually? Is the touch of your Tinder date actually what love feels like? I think this is was Karin Dreijer is trying to communicate. Everyone can touch you and want a piece of you if you let them, but we can’t forget the touch that really matters: the touch of human connection. As we progress in our digital world, we are gradually losing that contact, that caress and that human experience to the point where we don’t even know what we want anymore.
If anything, “Plunge” is an album about rediscovering your humanity. It’s about embracing those sexual urges, even if it’s against the norm. It’s about standing up for what you believe in, and above all, it’s about losing yourself only to find yourself again. With that, a new and improved Fever Ray emerges. One who still clings to her roots, but is not afraid to evolve and plunge into her inner desires.
