The Knife - Biography
The Knife are a Swedish electro pop duo from Stockholm consisted of two siblings, Karin and Olof Dreijer. They also record as solo artists, Fever Ray and Oni Ayhun, respectively.
Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson was born April 7th, 1975 in Nacka, Sweden. Her young brother, Olof Dreijer, was born in 1981. Karin sang in a rock band, Honey is Cool, with Staffan Larsson, John Jern and Håkan Hellström. From 1994 to 1999, the Göteborg-based band released three albums. In 1999, the Dreijers formed The Knife, a chilly, remote but accessible electronic act that shunned media attention, usually appearing in photos wearing masks. Their debut, The Knife (2001 Rabid Records) was unashamedly indebted to late ‘70s/early ‘80s electro pop but also willing to incorporate surprising musical textures provided by accordion, saxophone and other unexpected instruments. It was released on the Dreijers’ own label, Rabid Records.
After their 2002 single “Heartbeats” was covered by José González and used in a Sony commercial, The Knife’s profile began to rise. Their original version of “Heartbeats” appeared on their next full length, Deep Cuts (2003 Rabid Records). The same year they released Hannah Med H Sountrack (2003 Rabid Records), the score for a film by Christina Olofson. In 2005, Andersson sang on Röyksopp’s “What Else Is There?" by The Knife’s Norwegian neighbors, Röyksopp. The Knife made their live debut in 2006 following the release of their third album, Silent Shout (2006 Rabid Records), with performances in Europe and North America. In November, they released a DVD drawn from the highly visual performances as Silent Shout - an Audio Visual Experience (Rabid Records).
Even as media shy as The Knife are, their music began popping up in American TV Shows, including Ugly Betty, CSI: NY and Entourage. In 2008, Andersson again leant her vocals to another Northern European act, this time Belgium’s dEUS for the song “Slow.” The following year, as Fever Ray, Andersson released a solo album, Fever Ray (2009 Rabid Records). That year Andersson also scored a collection of short porn films, Dirty Diaries, and sang on two more tracks with Röyksopp, “This Must Be It” and “Tricky Tricky.” Under the moniker Oni Ayhun, Dreijer released two EPs, OAR001 (2008 Rabid Records) and OAR002 (2008 Rabid Records).
The Knife next collaborated with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to compose an opera, Tomorrow, In a Year (based on Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species) for Danish group Hotel Pro Forma. A studio recording of the opera appeared on Rabid Records in 2010. The Knife continue to perform only on rare occasions but, as DJ Coolof, Dreijer DJs regularly and, as Oni Ayhun, Dreijer released two more EPs, OAR003 (2009 Rabid Records) and OAR004 (2010 Rabid Records). Shaking The Habitual will be the next release from The Knife, slated for an April 2013 realease date.
