Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

The Knife

Heartbeats (live)

Label: Brille Records Release Date: 25/06/2007

24897
Hugo_A_GoGo by Dave Kerr June 18th, 2007

It’s pretty hard to shake the mental image of Björk and Cyndi Lauper having an arm wrestle over who can wrap the eeriest vocal around a Berlin cover while ’Heartbeats (Live)' takes flight from the stereo for the first time.

Almost mercifully, what could have been a tune to accompany a montage of Chunk flying an F-14 and trying it on with his flight instructor soon enough reveals itself as a thing of better-refined romantic substance. To cut this in with a soundtrack would be to match it up with the aesthetic values of Manhunter or Mulholland Drive as opposed to the base charms of an improbable collision between The Goonies and Top Gun.

Beyond confirming their Lynchian credentials, this reworking begs an encore applause for The Knife’s near alien ability to take up the well-worn baton of Goth pop with a minimum of thigh-slapping irony. A sample from a gig in – would you credit it – Gothenburg last year, this comparatively sparse rendition masterfully chisels away any traces of excess reverb and electro schmaltz from an already alluring frame as vocalist Karin Dreijer is afforded the space that her brother Olof’s rich textures can often overshadow.

All synthesisers and metronomic finesse, this is a well-rounded depiction of how startlingly fresh an old design can look when it’s reconsidered inside the right mind.

  • 8
    Dave Kerr's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

Pharoahe Monch

Body Baby

Mobback
24640
24641

Interpol

The Heinrich Maneuver

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


    review


    Jessie J - Who You Are

  • 67447
  • feature


    Battles: Tyondai Braxton talks Mirrored

  • 22473

    Interview


    Travis: Album by Album with Fran Healy

  • 91230
  • feature


    DiS meets Pretty Girls Make Graves

  • 14541

    Interview


    DiS meets Courtney Taylor-Taylor of The Dandy W...

  • 96470
  • feature


    Conversing with myself and another: DiS meets F...

  • 49768

    Interview


    "I wouldn't want to go on tour just playing old...

  • 95814
  • Interview


    Going Elemental: DiS Meets Sharon Van Etten

  • 106002
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND