Get Down with Darwin: The Knife

The Knife never fail to surprise us. First they're masked and we made guesses about their faces, then they unmasked, then Karin went all 'Fever Ray' and made one of 2009's best albums. Now they're releasing a studio version of a Darwin based opera. Yes, that's right. A Charles-Darwin-of-evolution-fame opera.
The band were approached by Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma to write the music for the performance based on 'The Origin of Species'. The pair worked closely with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock, visiting the Amazon on field recording trips and then mixing them with synthesised studio sounds. The piece stretches the idea of what we consider opera, the piece tackles multiple themes, using everything from the different stages of a bird learning its melody, to a song basedon Darwin’s loving letters about his daughter Anne. Bless.

“At first it was very difficult as we really didn’t know anything about opera." says Olaf "We’d never been to one. I didn’t even know what the word libretto meant. But after some studying, and just getting used to opera’s essence of pretentious and dramatic gestures, I found that there is a lot to learn and play with". Unsurprisingly it fits perfectly with the theatrical elements of the Knife.

Download this track [the title makes me think about Pigeon Street...] by visiting the band's website



"The title is taken from Charles Darwin's studies of pigeons" adds Karin, "it's a breakthrough of his examination and coming home after The Beagle trip. It is when when he started to discover the genetics transfered within generations. It is a track maximizing the results of his studies. There's also a feeling of seeing things for the first time, overwhelming and shaken, but not afraid."

"Tomorrow, In a Year" is released 1st March 2010 in the UK on Rabid / Brille Records