One half of electro-pop duo The Knife celebrates life in the club on his solo debut.
Do you remember The Knife? Good – now introduce yourself to the synth-pop duo in the club. Or even better: at an open-air rave in the sun. And with that you’ve almost arrived at the solo sound of Olof Dreijer, one half of The Knife. Because where they stood out with a feeling of horror and impending doom, Dreijer focuses on queer joy of life with Loud Bloom.
It has now been more than ten years since The Knife broke up, but Dreijer has not remained idle in the meantime: He produced Fever Ray, the solo project of his sister and bandmate, and albums for other artists, appeared as a DJ, was committed to the musical training of refugees and migrant young people, published dance tracks and remixes and collaborations such as with the Colombian-Swedish artist Diva Cruz.
A track from this collaboration, “Acucuye”found its way onto Loud Bloom. In addition to Cruz, Dreijer also worked with vocalists from South Africa (Toya Delazy on “Makwande”) or Sudan (MaMan on “Echoed Dafnino”) together. Most of the tracks remain free of vocals, sometimes going full twelve (“Blood Lily”), and sound more like ambient meditations (“Laurel”). But always after: Joy.
