FEVER RAY - The Year Of The Radical Romantics 2LP

Double LP housed in gatefold sleeve.

Following on from Fever Ray’s 2023 tour, ‘The Year of the Radical Romantics’ is a live-to-tape document of that tour, and the three studio albums to date. This album is a recording of the live reworkings and reimaginings of much-loved songs. Over the course of these albums, but in particular 2017’s ‘Plunge’ and 2023’s ‘Radical Romantics’, we’ve been introduced to various personas that embody different personality traits. The premise appears to be that these characters have gone to therapy, but if anything, they’ve become more emboldened versions of themselves. If you aren’t interested in the character work, the album requires none of it, but it’s worth watching the music videos for more unhinged fun.

This album takes 12 tracks from Fever Ray’s back catalogue and gives them a sonic party treatment. Most songs have been extended, and almost all the songs have a meatier, club pulse that throbs underneath. This turns tracks like ‘When I Grow Up’ and ‘I’m Not Done’ into bangers. ‘I’m Not Done’ and ‘Now’s The Only Time I Know’ get a live treatment and a “therapy session” version to bring the track total to 14. The differences are quite minimal. The therapy session versions are produced to give the bass more weight, as the brightness is reduced. The as-live versions are brighter, and the live drums are less dubby.