Sweden can claim yet another act which will baffle listeners and unfairly color outsiders’ perceptions. Fever Ray’s eponymous first release is the very definition of “bizarre,” and comes nearly three years after The Knife’s most recent album, Silent Shout. The new act is comprises of one half of The Knife’s lineup – Karin Elizabeth Dreijer Anderson (the other half is her brother, Olof) and was greatly anticipated following the critical success of The Knife’s recent efforts. With that exposition out of the way: Fever Ray’s release is a great departure from the old act. Fever Ray’s beats are more languid and deliberate than earlier efforts, and it is definitively un-danceable. The album features a tight ten-song lineup with none of the interludes that have defined The Knife. Gone are the creepy incestuous lyrics, as well as the under-one-minute songs about cops defecating in people’s mouths, or about keeping penises hanging out exposed. This is a welcome relief, as these have been a persistent, if funny, thorn in the side of electronica which is more than worthy of competing on its own merits. Although Fever Ray is superficially gimmick-free, it nevertheless retains all of the best aspects of The Knife’s pervasive and unsettling creepiness. Parts of the album are distorted into something strangely nostalgic, a la Boards Of Canada’s finest work. Prior to this release, most people would have been terrified to behold music that hearkens to unnerving remixes of Donkey Kong Country music crossed with The Lion King soundtrack. However, if the last sentence sounded denigratory, it was meant in the most effusively positive way imaginable. The risk paid off and if Karin’s goal with Fever Ray was to break out from the shadow of her previous work, she has certainly succeeded. Standout tracks include the bizarre first-released single, “If I Had A Heart” (which had a perplexingly morbid music video produced), and “Coconut.”