Well, The Knife are back. It’s been seven years since Silent Shout — a feminist manifesto that has birthed bands like Purity Ring and Doldrums — shook the shit out of the entire electronic music community. Always preferring to stay out of the spotlight, the brother-sister duo has been hibernating in some Swedish cave for almost half a decade now, brewing up their freshly announced 98-minute epic Shaking the Habitual (due in April). The “how is this the fifth longest song on the album?!?” first single “Full of Fire” dropped Tuesday, and trust me, it is one nasty “little” number.
“Full of Fire” is a relentless chase in the dark, fueled by a perpetual drum loop. The beat formally drops at the 1½-minute mark, and from there The Knife make haste in essentially punishing any sound that dares to get in their way — any noise that can be warped, will be. Karin’s cryptic lyrics continue to advocate for change, and concern gender-related issues. Five minutes in, her words get grueled into a glitchy, mutilated mess, and the distinction between the haunting instrumentation and her voice becomes non-existent. The following four minutes are pure bliss, until the ridiculously danceable nightmare ends without warning. Above all, “Full of Fire” feels like the only appropriate way to mark The Knife’s return: unforeseen and urgent.