For such a low-key duo, there's been a lot of recent action and noise from The Knife, between their work on the Tomorrow, in a Year electro-opera to Karin Dreijer Andersson's adventures as Fever Ray. Shaking the Habitual is of a par with those unexpected operatic notes, an album of odd, enigmatic, bleak and alluring synth-noir shimmies and shakes. It's brash and vivid, clattering throughout with fiercely thunderous venom and intent as the duo take risks, go screaming into the night and get worked up about a host of environmental and gender issues. Full of Fire stomps and writhes with Berghain-like intensity, the 19-minute long Old Dreams Waiting to Be Realized is a feverish drone, and Without You, My Life Will Be Boring has echoes of Silent Shout 's more accessible dimensions. This time out, though, The Knife are unapologetically playing for themselves.
theknife.net
Download: Full of Fire