Chris Yencha, Free Topic 3

For my free topic, I thought that it would be fun to talk about one of my favorite bands, Fever Ray. Fever Ray is the solo project of Swedish-born Karin Dreijer Andersson. Karin is most popularly known for her work with her brother in the electronic duo The Knife. While The Knife's electronic pop is very eclectic, Karin's side project focuses more on empty space and an anxious macabre approach to her sparse sound. Fever Ray is more mature in sound and vision but less approachable, musically than The Knife.

My intention for bringing up the two bands is to bring attention to a characteristic of both which is relative to class, specifically, the Mask of the Holy. The Knife tours very rarely. I believe they have done two shows in ten years or something along those lines. The times that they have done shows, they are always seen wearing masks. Karin does not usually wear a mask when she performs in Fever Ray but I can honestly say that I have never seen the face of her brother. The reasoning behind this is that the duo does not want to spoil the interpretation of their music with visuals. I find links between this logic and the concept of the Mask of the Holy. The concept is demonstrative of the majesty of God and the inability of man to fully comprehend the true form of his greatness. He shows himself in other, more indirect ways so that we may relate to him on a level on which we may interpret his importance for ourselves. In a similar way, I can understand why The Knife has decided to allow their music to speak for them instead of their visuals in order to allow their audience to take what they are able from the music.