In 2009, The Knife was commissioned by the Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma to provide music for an opera set to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Joining Karin and Olof as collaborators were Mt. Sims and Planningtorock.
Karin: “We were invited by this Danish performance theatre company called Hotel Pro Forma to make this piece. And we knew it was supposed to be performed in the Danish Royal Opera House in Copenhagen.”
Olof: “The theatre company wanted to make an opera about evolution theory and Darwin ideas. And they asked if we could make music for that. We entered that project thinking, Of course, it’s important to talk about Darwin’s impact on fascism in Europe. It is as important as the colonial history of Europe — how Darwin’s ideas were misused to promote fascism. But throughout the project, it became clear that [the theatre company] was not interested in that. They were interested in biology and geology.”
Luckily, Karin and Olof had asked their friends Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to write the opera with them. Together, they wriggled free from conceptual potholes. Instead of bowing to the traditional form’s grandiosity, the collaborators went granular with their sonic palette.
Karin: “You were very into field recordings at this time.”
Olof: “Yes, a short period. Which, actually, I just think is silly. Who gets to say that recording this sound in nature is art? It shows the hierarchy of contemporary art. Not everyone can say that a recording of the wind, or whatever, is art.”
The studio recorded versions of the compositions were released as Tomorrow, In A Year in 2010 by Rabid Records. Now The Knife continues its 20th anniversary celebration as they announce the first-ever vinyl pressing of their work Tomorrow, In A Year.
Karin: “We were invited by this Danish performance theatre company called Hotel Pro Forma to make this piece. And we knew it was supposed to be performed in the Danish Royal Opera House in Copenhagen.”
Olof: “The theatre company wanted to make an opera about evolution theory and Darwin ideas. And they asked if we could make music for that. We entered that project thinking, Of course, it’s important to talk about Darwin’s impact on fascism in Europe. It is as important as the colonial history of Europe — how Darwin’s ideas were misused to promote fascism. But throughout the project, it became clear that [the theatre company] was not interested in that. They were interested in biology and geology.”
Luckily, Karin and Olof had asked their friends Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to write the opera with them. Together, they wriggled free from conceptual potholes. Instead of bowing to the traditional form’s grandiosity, the collaborators went granular with their sonic palette.
Karin: “You were very into field recordings at this time.”
Olof: “Yes, a short period. Which, actually, I just think is silly. Who gets to say that recording this sound in nature is art? It shows the hierarchy of contemporary art. Not everyone can say that a recording of the wind, or whatever, is art.”
The studio recorded versions of the compositions were released as Tomorrow, In A Year in 2010 by Rabid Records. Now The Knife continues its 20th anniversary celebration as they announce the first-ever vinyl pressing of their work Tomorrow, In A Year.
TRACK LISTING
A1. Intro
A2. Epochs
A3. Geology
A4. Upheaved
A5. Minerals
B1. Ebb Tide Explorer
B2. Variation Of Birds
B3. Letter To Henslow
B4. Schoal Swarm Orchestra
C1. Annie’s Box
C2. Tumult
C3. Colouring Of Pigeons
D1. Seeds
D2. Tomorrow In A Year
D3. The Height Of Summer