I reckon this might be my first ever opera review.. Luckily The Knife are involved so I'm somewhat in my comfort zone, if that's the right phrase for The Knife and their unsettling baroque ways. Here they're working with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to soundtrack an opera based around the life of some dude called Charles Darwin and some theory that he had about some shit or other that doesn't seem important. As much as it wavers from what you might expect from an opera soundtrack with its emphasis on synthesized sound and often jarring tone manipulations (which are at least as harsh as a lot of Pan Sonic stuff), the majority of the vocal work on these two discs handled by the truly operatic Kristina Wahlin Bomme which creates a pretty unique combination, at least in my listening experience. As things progress the confusing chaos of the early tracks develops into more rhythmic, ordered forms, perhaps to represent the theories coming together in Darwin's mind or perhaps even planet's own progression (or not, depending on which way you look at it) from bubbling primordial soups and gaseous toxins into a calmer, greener land filled with life.. Fuck knows to be honest but it's cool stuff in any case. Filling two CDs, it can be heavy going at times (and lord knows I've probably hardly scratched the surface skimming through it as I have) but I can't help but recommend such an interesting release.
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Sound clips for Tomorrow, In A Year by The Knife: on CD at Norman Records UK. CD, Brille, BRILCD116, £13.89.
• This music was made for the opera called ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’, commissioned by Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma. The music is based on Charles Darwin’s book ‘On The Origin Of The Species’, his notebooks and other randomly selected Darwin related literature and articles, including ‘Selfish Gene’, ‘Blind Watchmaker’ by Richard Dawkins, ‘Annie’s Box’ by Randal Keynes, ‘How To Read Darwin’ by Mark Ridley and ‘Emma Darwin, The Inspirational Wife Of A Genius’ by Edna Healy.
• This is a studio version of the piece with slight differences and variations from the performed opera. In the current performed version all vocals are sung by mezzo soprano Kristina Wahlin Bomme, actor Lærke Bo Winther and pop singer Jonathan Johanson. Originally The Knife were commissioned to make the music but they thought this vast subject couldn't be interpreted by only two brains, so they invited Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to try a more collaborative process for the first time, not only to have a more fun and interesting process but also to capture the huge width of the theme of Darwin and evolution.
• The opera ‘Tomorrow, In A Year’ will be performed in the UK and rest of the world throughout 2010.
