Gig review: Fever Ray

Published on Tuesday 7 September 2010 14:33

FEVER RAY ABC, GLASGOW ****

THE gothic Lady Gaga, the Scandic Siouxsie, Bjork on a budget – all are reasonable comparisons for Karin Dreijer Andersson in her solo guise as Fever Ray.

Previously best known as one half of Swedish electronica duo The Knife, Andersson is an enigmatic presence at the shadowy centre of an immersive, inherently theatrical show, though she barely moved, except to extend her arms beseechingly in front of her, for the duration of her time on stage, encased as she was in a cartoony headdress which made her look like a character from In the Night Garden.

Her music is far from child's play though, comprising a heady, pulsing electro-goth soundscape built from hypnotic swathes of keyboards and the exotic throb of tribal percussion, crowned with Andersson's elemental voice, which modulates from whisper to scream to growl, with a little help from pitchshifting technology and other distortion techniques. The resulting soundtrack was dark, oppressive and utterly compelling. The audience cheered their favourite tracks but this was a seamless performance to be absorbed as a total experience.

The stage was sparingly lit using old-fashioned, flickering lampstands. Occasionally green lasers would penetrate the fug of dry ice and through the murk, her band, also wearing sinister masks, appeared like a battalion of orcs. One wielded a staff for purely dramatic purposes, another looked to be carrying a sword - so, y'know, watch out. The goths are coming.