The Knife

The Knife
Silent Shout
(2006)

Rating: 7.2


This album is getting superb reviews at the moment and is already being touted as a contender for album of the year. The Knife offer a gothic take on Techno, blending ethereal vocals with Trance and Euro-Disco. It’s a unique sound and there’s even talk of it spawning a new genre: Haunted House. I like that name.

The Haunted House sound is dominated by warped sampling of the lead singer. The vocals of Karin Dreijer suffer an array of treatments over the course of the album, pitching from a masculine computer drone to a childish alien-chant on some of the more up-tempo numbers. I suppose the intention was for the listener to be feel jilted by the mixed treatments as the album plays through, but I can’t help feeling irritated by the unnecessary “let’s make it sound fucked up” attitude of the high pitched tracks.

Much more successful are the low throbbing Neverland, the Felt Mountain-tinged Na Na Na and very excellent opener, Silent Shout. The vocal treatments are well suited to what’s going on around them and the songs benefit from simple arrangements.

There is one absolute standout track on the album. Like a Pen’s rhythm emerges from a superb alternating sample of water drops and bounces along at a good pace. The old water-drop sample may be a tired trick but they manage to make it sound fresh here and I find myself nodding along to it each time.

I have to say that some of the sounds on the album are a little dated. You could certainly see Marble House or The Captain fitting comfortably onto an early Classic Chillout album. Maybe a volume where the singers have been strangled a little. Autoerotic Asphyxia-Chillout. Although I don’t think that would make for a very pleasant TV ad.

There are enough enjoyable tracks on this album to give it a solid recommendation and I can see it being successful in seducing Techno-sceptics into clubs. Personally, I find it hard to stomach some of the eerie-helium elements but it should appeal to fans of Cocteau Twins, Bjork and Depeche Mode.