Fever Ray

It's like if Bjork had more modern production and also less artistic ability

Why would I listen to this when I can just put on some Bjork?

Her sad aping of one aspect of Bjork’s styling sounds put on, gimmicky, and lacks the passion, expressivity, and creativity that make Bjork a genius. The musical ideas here, by contrast are simplistic and forgettable. That leaves the computer programming. The sonic pallet is pleasant enough. But listening to computers perform is like watching someone mow a lawn; occasionally mildly-entrancing, but never moving.

not as good as Joni Mitchell’s Blue

This was so mid it made me unlike a song of theirs I'd previously liked.

Taking my cues from other reviews (hey, that rhymed!!): Low energy Bjork-wannabe with extra mouth noises and plink plonk bloops as background sounds. 1⭐️

Interesting.

i honestly don't feel cool enough to listen to this music

I will never get this person or why critics fawn over them.

Didn't know what to expect but it was actually OK. Nothing fantastic but a pleasant listen. If the songs were stronger it would probably get 4 stars however there was nothing that memorable.

That was interesting, but nothing drew me into it, and I'm fine never hearing it again.

Alright. Some interesting moments but not a great album overall

No idea. --------------------- Lo fi low demand. I gave this one two listens because attempt one elicited very little in me. The second time through I appreciated the mood and atmosphere created by the sparse synth compositions and at times the vocal does add to this. However the intonation of said vocals for the most part is irritating bordering on unlistenable. I don't think it's is an accent thing, it feels performative and really gets on my nerves. Tracks 1 and 9 kind of landed for me, but otherwise it's a big nothing burger. 1*

It wasn't bad and it wasn't something spectacular either. But really good backround music.

I've always liked the vocals but nothing really sticks or hooks me in so it just becomes a slightly quirky experience but not one you want to revisit that often.

Sum boring ass tunes

Unusual

Not my favorite, music is good but didn't hook me in. For electronic music I'd probably pick other albums before this. But I can see the appeal

Irgendwie dachte ich, ich hätte dieses Fever Ray-Album schon mal komplett gehört, aber waren dann doch nur einzelne Songs. Zum Releasedatum wäre das noch nix für mich gewesen, zu wenig Tempo, zu verschroben. Aber mittlerweile catcht mich sowas komplett. Ich mag, wie sie verschiedene Effekte auf ihre Stimme legt und dadurch verschiedene Rollen einnimmt. Mit "Seven" ist ein etwas Song dabei, der etwas tanzbarer ist. Gerne hätte sie stärker in diese Richtung gehen können. Die Platte ist wenig eingängig, viele Songs ähneln sich, es ist ein Album für verregnete Wintertage, aber im richtigen Moment ist das schon sehr einnehmende Musik.

Plätscherte nur so vor sich hin...

Das war glatt ohne scharfkantig anzuecken. Aber dann doch nicht so, dass es stört oder langweilig ist. Lange Rede, nichts gesagt. Stabil-o.

Sehr athmosphärisch, hat mir richtig gut gefallen

Could’ve done without the stupid vocal effects

Close to four-star territory. I like the spare sounds and the space the artists had to work.

Bjork light

Was familiar with If I Had a Heart from the Vikings TV show. It was my favorite on the album. Rest was okay, but not really my thing.

Based on how "If I Had a Heart" entered pop culture, I expected pitch black synths and dark moods. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by richly woven music that has a lot of gothic overtones but plenty of melody as well. Fever Ray isn't a character, it's a way into more meditative thought and songs, with contemplative lyrics and songwriting. It does suffer some sameness and melding together but given a careful listen it's a really beautiful record.

баба поет под эмбиент ну ниче такого, услышал немного бьорк

I couldn't relate to any of this and already forgot what it sounded like.

prva stvar zaintrigirala me zvukom i ambijentom, no kasnije švrlja kvalitetom... ova švedska dejdemača kroz album zavija na skali od dosta lijepog preko valjda podnošljivog do naprosto strašnog. glazba je interesantna, ali na nekim pjesmama previše zvuči kao generična pop produkcija koja je ipak minimalno modificirana, pomaknuta, uvrnuta, kako se ne bi mogla svrstati u generični pop za radio. konačan sud: nekako mi je drago da sam preslušo, neki su mi se momenti dopali, pogotovo je dobro kad instrumentalno pogodi a istovremeno ne pjeva, no sve u svemu sumnjam da ću ponovo slušati. prosječna trojka sve u svemu [odslušao i napisao 30/10/26]

I liked this better than I expected to given I’m not usually into atmospheric electronica.

In certain moods i’d like ti listen to some tracks in isolation, but as an entire album i’d have it as background music at best and likely find it so lofi i tune it out.

Not for me.

Pretty cool and pulls some fun tricks with vocal effects. The voice itself does sound annoying to me. Which isn't their fault. Also it feels weirdly out of touch or something, like it's music made for musicians or producers. It was also too long. You know what, I didn't like it.

skinamarink music. feels vespertine-derived, without the flowing aetherial dress. maybe a little bit massive attack. it's more exciting to me than a lot of music here but the execution isn't flawless. lacks some more bite-sized songs to break up the album. the vocal effects could use a little more restraint. that being said, most all the beats are plinky and fun and stimulating. slows down but in a neat atmospheric way. favorite song is Triangle Walks or I'm Not Done. soft 4

If I Had a Heart When I Grow Up Seven

Really liked the female vocal and the overall sound; but didn’t like the male vocal and found the songwriting got a bit samey.

You can’t sound this much like 80s Ryuichi Sakamoto without me hooting and hollering like a cartoon hound in a zoot suit. The Knife’s Silent Shout, fever ray’s group with her brother, is still better, but this is a 4.5. Favorite track: Triangle Walks

Good cold weather music 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪/ 5

WAIT. HOLY SHIT. THIS IS THE THEME SONG FOR THE VIKINGS SHOW?!?!?! HOLY GOD ABSOLUTE JUMPSCARE GUYS. MY MOM LOVES THAT SHOW. I KEPT BEING LIKE 'wow i should listen to this whole song the chorus bangs' and YOU KNOW WHAT? I WAS RIGHT! Went into this one completely blind. had not heard of Fever Ray before and genuinely had no idea what the vibe was going to be. And I ended up really enjoying that vibe! Seven, Concrete Walls, and Now's the Only Time I Know, were some favorites.

Okay. Fine

IDK, I listened several times and this one never clicked for me.

Ultimately not for me. I appreciate what it’s doing, but I kept looking to see when it was done.

Moody and pensive; atmospheric. Interesting listen.

Magical!

Music is cool, vocals are interesting, lyrics are weird

"Hounds of Love" Kate Bush, Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Sneaker Pimps, "Maxinquaye" Tricky, Animal Collective, Björk. This album hits all the influences whether it knows it or not. There are sprinkles of all sorts of predecessors and contemporaries throughout with those listed being what immediately came to mind. So, while it's reminiscent of so many artists before them, the album has a fresh sound too. I look forward to digging into it with more listen throughs. I have a feeling it'll be rewarding.

I gave up half way through. This made me angry with the droning warped vocals. Nah

This was so weird (but good). It reminded me of a lot of different artists (some bjork, animal collective, Niki and the dove). Idk if I would listen to it again as a whole but I did enjoy it.

Reminds me a lot of what Peter Gabriel was doing 20 years earlier, yet somehow it isn't derivative. It's like a lot of EDM at that time, but without leaving you feel as though you'd been assaulted. 3 stars.

I was in the right headspace for the first few songs, but when I had time to finish the album it had lost all its charm. I also thought it was Bjork for a bit, oops?

Lots of interesting songs, missing some big melodic hooks for me. 2.75 rounded up to 3.

6/10 A bit frustrating at time, but largely quite tolerable and I could imagine listening to again when trying to lock in or reading of an evening. Unfortunately, it's quite forgettable, so chances are it won't occur to me to do that

Užasno dosadna imitacija Björk.

Intentional oddness with a female singer who would love if possible to be Bjork thank you very much. I didn’t hate it but now, 24 hours later I don’t remember a lot.

Not too bad, but not one I’ll revisit.

Let’s be honest now, if track 1 isn’t used as the theme song for the TV series Vikings does this band ever get any traction in the real world?

Thought I’d like this more. On first listen I thought it was fine background music and was leaning a middle of the road score. Decided to give it another listen to see if I was missing something. Listened closer with more intention and I just didn’t jive with it.

I liked that. Textural, atmospheric, with shifting vocal approaches that made it interesting and sometimes surprising from track to track. No real outstanding tracks, but a good listen all through. Would I list it? yeah, especially if I found my list without this kind of interesting electronic sounds, this is a good representative. 3.5/5

nice.....nice......not thrilling........but nice

Not a fan, her voice is nice however I found the songs blurred together and were hard to differentiate and along with that it took way too long for them to develop musically and it really made me quite bored listening to it.

just brilliant. really unique

This is a surprising and amazing album. Blew me away.

Voz cautivadora Sonidos lentos pero potentes, un electro un tanto denso en ciertos momentos, pero muy bien ejecutado La portada por alguna razón no le hace honor a lo que contiene este discazo Es un disco que permite regresar a el, se disfruta bastante Reescuchable y recomendable 3.5

Love The Knife but honestly had no idea about Fever Ray's solo stuff. Loving this too.

I kinda hated it but I also kept listening to it so what does that say about me. It’s painful Scandinavian but I also went to IKEA so fuck it

I like Karen Dreijer’s voice; its woozy space-alien quality is kind of fascinating. But in smaller doses, really. The album drifts in the back half, and there’s nothing as good as “Heartbeats” on here.

Overall Rating - 3.05/5 (6.10/10). Weird, Scandinavian electronica. Not bad, just weird.

The kind of thing I would expect from Sweden. Favorite track: Triangle Walks 3.5/5

What a classic album! I recall listening to this when it came out and thinking, 'wow - that's different.' This was one of the last CD's I bought before moving fully to streaming services. Now so many years later it has clearly inspired others...

Pre Listen: Never heard of this guy, but based on album cover and release date I'm inclined to immediately feel like this is going to be some millennial hipster nonsense. Low expectations. Notable Tracks: N/A Post Listen: This album faded to background music way faster than I expected. It's got a vibe down, but it's so sleepy of a vibe I couldn't get in to it. Dark, Lofi, slow tempo beats and electronics to a mostly soft and equally melancholy vocal backing. It's alright. I didn't dislike any song at all, but I wasn't grooving either. Struggling to say more than that, I didn't really feel anything from this album. The female vocalist could be a little annoying sometimes, but not necessarily bad. My reaction to this album is about as monochrome as the album cover. Some of the music videos were alright I guess. 3/5

Sugar ray is not for me

2.5

What the hell happened to SUGAR RAY All jokes aside this album was kinda a roller coaster and not always in the best way. The first track “If I Had Heart”has a similar vocal melody on its chorus to the Nirvana track “You Know You’re Right”. Not a bad thing just very similar The first 4 tracks I found pretty enjoyable and the vocals reminded me of a a Female version of the band Animal Collective However after that it just sort of became diminishing returns. It started going into a more Björk sound which I’m pretty mid on vocally Was going between a 2.5 or 3 and honestly the quality and my tolerance of it just wore thin as it kept going. 2.5 but gonna round down to a 2. Sounds terrible but think this album would be more enjoyable as an instrumental electronic album. Might be a high 3 or 3.5 if so.

Very cool album. I can't help compare it with Bjork, whose work is a little more experimental. This is like a more tonally-consistent Bjork album, which is also a bit less exciting. I definitely enjoyed and will listen again.

Not terrible but not something I'd listen to on my own.

immense 3

Kind of fun!

Harmless, nothing that would warrant a relisten

I get what she was going for. But Bjork did it first and better.

A menacing night crawler of a record; all unsettling synths and pitch shifted vocals. First time listen and I will revisit, maybe during one of these gloomy October nights

Not for me, sorry.

Didn't hate it, love the first song.

i knew fever ray from the knife, one of the most interesting musical projects i've ever heard, so i was really proud & excited to see them here! the vocals are very unique and memorable, obviously very bjork-ish so i cannot not like it. however, i find that the calmer more atmospheric take on this does not shine compared to the their other work. i tend to love ambient music but because i know how they sound otherwise, nothing here really blew me away. but it still got a lot of texture and personality.

Was not on my radar at all from my knowledge of indie/alt from the late oughts. But its an enjoyable album. Offers much relistenability because of the multiple layers of sonic textures and instrumentation. BUT, its too close to form of Bjork. I'm gonna have to take that into consideration when rating.

I've been hitting duds now for some time, and this one didn't help. Look, I enjoy different genres - that's why I'm here! - but why place a derivative work on the list? There's already plenty of Björk on the list, let's leave it at that. Not a good listen.

Intoxicating vibes, nice layered sounds. I don't mind the vocals, but also got a little tired of them by the end. Still fun to listen to, though.

Weird, but not in a good way. Cut price Bjork on a bad day.

Very ethereal, not my thing.

It’s like there’s elements of things that I like in specific songs (When I grow up) but I don’t like it as a whole and not enough to listen to it again LOL

This complex album can be described quite simply. 90 seconds that promised so much, and 45 minutes that delivered so little. And its no use you saying "but its atmospheric and moody". Its not, its dreary and lifeless. Its like a beached fish lying on the shoreline gasping for breath. Hoping desperately to be pushed back into the water, or be knocked on the head so someone can feed on its carcase. but neither of these things happen and it lays there slowly suffocating under its own ineptitude. This album desperately needs an injection of life. For the potential it has I'll give it an incredibly generous 2

Very good. Atmospheric and interesting throughout. No stand out tracks, just a lovely cohesive flow. Will be listening again, exploring the other albums and checking out ‘Knife’ too.

Vikings!! How many times have I listened to that damn first track? Especially as I binge watched it when I had Covid. 'Give me wool, give me wool, give me wool' I have no idea if that is the lyric or not.... probably not. Third track in and I'm loving the vibe. It is mellow but also dark and edgy. If I were to paint a picture of how it is making me feel, then it is as if I've decided to sit on a park bench on a cold and misty morning in my thickest coat, cold and dismal outside and in my coat I am all warm and snugly inside. Things just kept on getting better. This album seems like a journey. 'I'm Not Done', what a track, so moody and uplifting. I'm not done with this at all, as this album is evoking emotions, I dont care which but its doing its job. How the hell did I miss this? Its genius. I look forward to checking out The Knife. Well crafted Mr Ray.

Well this was a surprise. Having never heard of her didn't know what to expect. Certainly wasn't prepared for viking techno Enjoyed this.

Holy shit

I had not heard this before. I liked The Knife fine, but this was far more engaging and interesting. Not sure how I missed this but I’ll spend some time with it. Thanks 1001!

Good for what it is, I suppose, but 3 is still the ceiling for this type of stuff for me.

Definitely not. I really wanted to like this, but it ended up sounding like the dark, queer equivalent of all the shite Auto-tune pop songs that seem to abound. I went back and listened to Who's Next as a palate cleanser and enjoyed it once again. Clearly, like a vigorous rock and roll slime mold, The Who is growing on me!

I listened to this when it came out since I was Knife-curious. I like it more than the Knife and appreciate the unsettling world she creates. The album works as a whole but would benefit from a few standout tracks.

I know this isn't ambient; it's gothic euro-electronica, or something like that. But it kind of works like good ambient for me. More interesting and varied, though; pushes up my ceiling for appreciating that kind of thing. The words might be interesting but I can't understand them .