By Kavit Sumud | January 28th, 2013
Oh, glory days: The Knife have returned. For those who have been waiting impatiently through the flurry of 64kbs webrips and teasers that would make any fan rip their hair out in nervous frustration, you’ll be excited to hear that “Full of Fire” has finally seen the light of day.
“Full of Fire” roars with intensity and takes its EDM origins to an ominous place. It’s a bit like if Jamie xx became possessed by the spirit of a witch house produce, and then started recording while getting high in the middle of a Crystal Castles concert. It’s chaotic, but it never manages to lose the listener through its daunting 9 minute run time. That said, the first time you listen to the song, it is a bit overwhelming, but the second time, it’s fucking genius how intricate this track is. I can’t believe how much I’ve missed The Knife’s insane level of talent.
Some bands shortcut the path to resolution of a track’s turmoil, but you never have to worry about that with The Knife. In the first minute, Karen Dreijer Andersson warns the listener “that sometimes I get problems that are hard to solve… questions and answers can take very long,” and then proceeds to gleefully take us along every dark and twisty avenue in her mind towards an open-ended finish. The production and arrangement are sprawling and amorphous enough to capture the unwinding trauma in one’s brain. Once you get that exploratory aspect of the song, their vision becomes clear.
Shaking the Habitual, the first album from the band in 7 years, sounds like it’s going to live up to its concept in all of the grandest ways. Check out the short film associated with the video here, and find the official release of the song on Rabid Records’ SoundCloud.