The Knife, "Silent Shout"

                Like any niche genre, bands set to fill and satisfy a popular demand to only a host of common beats, rhymes, lyrics, and above all, tone. Darkwave is an emerging trend amongst the niches, and is undeniably garnering attention in clubs, even receiving praise on the radio with minor play. Its predecessor: New Wave, was a substantial genre from the eighties building off the punk platform in less edgy harmonies and synthesizer. It was a hit, widely successful, everybody was idly humming “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode, dancing to New Order and crying with The Cure. Darkwave satisfies the niche of Goth music meeting the Indie electronica trend, headlined by no other than The Knife.

              Their previous album “Deep Cuts” was a substantial hit back in 2003, going gold in Platinum in Sweden and scraping the Billboard charts in America. The Duo of the band, Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer received eight Grammi nominations, winning five, but declining the awards as protest to the award ceremony. Their identities remain hidden in their persona’s: Hidden behind masks, obscure lighting, and lack of public appearances and rare live performances, meanwhile, their music continues to garnish success. After the monumental release of “Deep Cuts” came a three year hiatus, followed by the highly anticipated release of their new album “Silent Shout.” Skeptical as public was, they announced a departure from the more ‘chill’ aspect of their sound to return to a more gritty, darker tone.

              “Silent Shout” is a almost an experiment of poly-rhythms, booming low beats and a more raw clear delivery of what seems to be a shift into the industrial genre. The album radically differs from the previous releases, the dramatic opener of the eponymous song “Silent Shout” is driven by conventional quarter notes driven by bass-beats reminiscent that of hip-hop styling, with another layer of higher treble beats, giving the inference of a human pulse, and a melody by a phaser style synthesizer that compliments the tone of the bass. The spooky and murky voices of Karin come as a whisper, later climaxing to her almost primal scream, well suited for the dramatic and quiet opener to end on a heavy platform.

              All of these atmospheric tones shift later in the album with the single “We Share Our Mother’s Health” which is a straightforward aggressive industrial tone. The familiar styles of industrial are present, along with The Knife’s otherwise ‘spooky’ demeanour of gradually rising and falling bass, jaunting, otherwise sharp melody coming as catchy as it pulses against the rhythm of the song. Andersson’s voice is accompanied by Olof as his operatic voice is called and responded to the lyrics like that of an old Jazz song. The Knife is not only satisfying the niche, but comes as challenging and welcoming, the new façade is coming departure from their previous material, embracing a new tone that leaves the foot tapping and the chest pounding in cadence. It is a breath of fresh air to a still genre, breaking the conformity and experimenting quite successfully with darker riffs and a more aggressive approach.