LIVE: Fever Ray – The Troxy, London 20.03.18

There are plenty of reasons to admire Fever Ray (aka Karin Dreijer) after her sold out show at London’s Troxy last night, but not all of them are based around her electrifying music.

In Fever Ray’s space, she takes care to make sure no-one is an outsider: everyone is welcome in her warped and wonderful world.

Before the gig, signs around the venue explicitly stated she wanted fans not to use their phones to document the evening and immerse themselves in her performance. The same signs requested that women come to the front and taller people stand back if obscuring a shorter person’s view. Outside of the toilets, another sign indicated that for the duration of the night, toilet facilities were trans-friendly spaces and trans fans were free to use the bathroom they felt aligned with their gender identity.

Emerging from the lights in her trademark “I heart Swedish girls” t-shirt and bare scalp, she plunged in to ‘An Itch’ as her crystal clear vocals swept across her excited crowd. From start to finish, the sound was flawless: each lyric, synth sequence, and drum beat distinct and easily discernible from the next. She delivered only a simple “Hello” or “Thank You” between songs – scarcely interrupting the torrent of sound.

She tore through ‘A Part Of Us’ and ‘When I Grow Up’, before performing ‘Mustn’t Hurry’ and ‘This Country’ with full fervor. The politically charged lyrics on the latter: “Free abortions and clean water / destroy nuclear / destroy boring” were echoed back by the crowd, and erotically charged line “this country makes it hard to fuck” was passionately reciprocated too.

Plunge‘s lead single ‘Wanna Sip’ sounded every inch as intense live, followed by ‘I’m Not Done’, the superb ‘Red Trails’ and the ominous ‘Concrete Walls’. The luscious “To The Moon & Back” came next, with it’s upbeat electronics buoyant lyrics, bleeding into the infectious ‘IDK About You’. The eerie ‘Keep The Streets Empty For Me’ was a fitting penultimate track and prepared fans for a powerful encore of ‘If I Had A Heart’ and ‘Mamma’s Hand’.

Fever Ray’s fierce, focused, full-on performance at the Troxy proved she’s an inimitable talent with a vision, generosity and energy unlike any other. Simply put: if you weren’t there, you missed out.

Support came from the the fluorescent and fabulous Bunny.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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EP: EMA – ‘Outtakes from Exile’

Sitting comfortably in what she calls “The Outer Ring” of society – the zone between the country and the city, both literally and figuratively – EMA’s dark electronic sounds ooze with an unease and intensity inspired by “material that speaks truth to power.” Rather than agonise, Erika M. Anderson (aka EMA) organises synths and vocals to express her resistance against poverty and inequality, and her recent EP Outtakes From Exile is another impressive example of these determined efforts.

Lead single ‘Dark Shadows’ ia a blend of hazy vocals, sharply produced beats and opulent electronics, inspired by the film 20th Century Women. Anderson says she was inspired by the premise – “badass women living in 1970s Santa Barbara getting into punk” – and ‘Dark Shadows’ emerged as “a survivor song”, detailing someone who’s “leaving a dark past behind, emerging again into the world”. It’s a world in which second track ‘MopTops (Twist While The World Stops)’ plays out confidently, with EMA’s hushed, croaky vocals sitting atop steady synths that loop for three and a half minutes.

‘I Don’t Treat Anything Good’ is similar in its understated style and tempo, but it culminates in EMA’s plea-like vocals to be saved from this casual apathy. The emotional exposure on penultimate track ‘From The Love That We Made’ will have listeners caught up in a sultry, synth-heavy haze before an unexpected switch from electronics to acoustic guitars mid-way through the song clears the figurative smoke screen.

It’s the defiant power of closing track ‘Breathalyzer Instrumental’ however, that truly displays EMA’s ominous, shadowy skills. It’s twenty minutes of intriguing noise which broods somewhere between intense awareness and a need to be aurally anesthetised. Whilst her vocals on previous tracks are quietly hypnotic, the lack of them here is not to be lamented. Ten minutes in, her almost inaudible whisperings appear over persistent synths, offering a brief distraction from this epic, intoxicating sonic assault.

Make sure you set aside the time to explore EMA’s intriguing soundscapes on Outtakes From Exile – you won’t be disappointed.

EMA’s Outtakes From Exile (released via City Slang) is available to stream/download now.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: La Lune – ‘He Breathes Colour When I Feel So Grey’

Let the sweeping electronic soundscapes of Brighton-based song-writer La Lune melt your ears this Saturday. The elusive 19 year old has shared her debut EP Bliss with us recently, and we’ve been playing the opening track ‘He Breathes Colour When I Feel So Grey’ on repeat.

Inspired by the likes of The Japanese House, Lorde, James Blake & Bon Iver, La Lune has been creating her own music for just over a year. Her understated, gentle, cleanly produced sounds are a soothing balm for ears conditioned to the sound of chaos and we can’t wait to hear more from this exciting newcomer.

Listen to ‘He Breathes Colour When I Feel So Grey’ below, and follow La Lune on Facebook & Spotify for more music updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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Track Of The Day: Complicated Animals – ‘Show Me’

If you dig 80s music, David Lynch films and “dreamy synth-pop songs,” you’re going to enjoy Complicated Animals latest single ‘Show Me’. The Brazilian-American duo’s track is a lush electronic exploration of the magic that happens when we experience pure, genuine human emotion in a world where most of our interactions are dictated by technology.

Monica da Silva and Chad Alger debuted as Complicated Animals in 2015, with the release of their EP In This Game, but they’ve been creating music together since 2007. Having lived in both the United States and Brazil, da Silva blended the two cultures into her writing, melding indie pop and bossa nova to form a new genre, one she coined “Indie Nova.”

Speaking of the inspiration behind their latest single “Show Me’, da Silva explains: “It’s scary how detached we humans have become. Technology is great, but we’ve got to remember how important human interaction is, and not just go through the motions like zombies. For this song, Chad dug an old synthesizer we had out of the closet. We started stacking sounds and layering vocals. The production came together quickly, and virtually all of the sounds in the track were created using the same synth.”

Listen to ‘Show Me’ below, and if you’re planning on catching Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird when it’s released on 16th Feb (and why wouldn’t you?) listen out for da Silva’s song ‘Back To His Girl’, which is featured on the soundtrack.

Follow Complicated Animals on Facebook for more updates.

Kate Crudgington
@KCBobCut

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