The Knife’s Olof Dreijer has shared details of a new EP made in collaboration with US artist Mt. Sims.
Spanning five tracks, Souvenir centres around the steel drum, making heavy use of the instrument. It precedes further solo material from Dreijer which is set to be released later this year. You can listen to the EP’s lead track, ‘Hybrid Fruit’, above.
The EP’s origins date back to when Dreijer and Sims worked together on The Knife’s 2010 album Tomorrow, In A Year, with the organisation Special Friends Of The Earth (SFOTE) subsequently inviting both artists to work on a project using an original steel drum made by Trinidad-based instrument maker Ellie Mannette.
Conscious of the instrument’s colonial history, as well as its stereotypical depiction within Western culture, the two artists spent a decade establishing a connection with it, according to a press release. "We tried to find our own thing," Dreijer said in a statement. "That’s usually our way around using an instrument that has been heavily exoticised and appropriated."
In addition to the EP, Dreijer and Sims have linked up with writers Anna-Maria Sörberg, Nathan Hamelberg and Tomas Hemstad to co-author an interpretive text which explores the EP’s themes, including a desire to highlight Scandinavia’s role in the colonialism of the Caribbean. The text can be read via Olof Dreijer’s website, where there is also original visual artwork by Tunisian artist Aïcha Snoussi, inspired by the music and text.
Rabid Records will release Souvenir on June 9, 2023.
