The Knife - Deep Cuts

The Sixties and Seventies had their revivals in the nineties so it was inevitable that the music of the Eighties would be plundered for inspiration this decade. Some artists simply took the music templates of the eighties and replicated them (The Killers, I'm looking at you) but some, like Sweden's brother/ sister duo The Knife, took the electropop template and brought it into the 21st Century. Driven by the lead single, Heartbeats, the songs on Deep Cuts are densely layered, both musically and lyrically. The dynamic of Karin Dreijer's soft childlike vocals and deceptively dark lyrics is perfectly offset by brother Olaf's fluid synths and processed beats. Like many fellow Swedes who broke through internationally, they aren't bringing anything new to the table, just taking something good and making it better. (Conor Graham)