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This Swedish brother-sister electronic duo has been garnering lots & lots of attention with the U.S. debut of this album, which is a testament to how remarkable it is, because on the surface it's just so darn weird. I don't really have a musical frame of reference to put it in; Björk fronting Flock of Seagulls is a starting point, but woefully inadequate. Strangely-accented vocals, sometimes pitch-bent to sound almost comically high or low; bombastic keyboards and electronics; band members who appear in public wearing masks...on first listen, I was somewhat taken aback, but on subsequent listens the brilliance of the songs overcame me and I found myself gladly immersing myself in their unique sound world. If you've heard José González's acoustic cover of their song "Heartbeat," you know that beneath the alien sounds is some beautiful songwriting. The lyrics, though a bit odd, are very human, often sweet, and sometimes quite humorous ("spending time with my family / like the Corleones," from "One Hit," for example), with recurring themes of home, family and femininity — you'll want to follow them in the CD booklet. My favorite lyrics are the story told by "Forest Families," which is odd but genuinely moving. Like master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, The Knife create a beautiful, cohesive, alien, but understandable world that beats with a human heart. (mike.09.06)
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