Fever Ray (Karin Dreijer) and Björk swap remixes on this new EP. Björk tackles ‘This Country’, a standout track from the recent Fever Ray full-length Plunge, while Dreijer focuses on ‘Features Creatures’, a cut from Björk’s 2017 LP Utopia.
Björk makes her mark on ‘This Country’ before we’ve even heard any music. Changing the title from ‘This Country’ to the track’s key phrase ‘This Country Makes It Hard To Fuck’, the Icelandic artist subsequently takes a hatchet to Dreijer’s composition. While the original of ‘This Country’ was itself an abrasive industrial pop tune, Björk’s rendering is positively nightmarish. A hellish mix of stormy vocals, undulating sheets of noise and body-blow drum hits, ‘This Country Makes It Hard To Fuck’ sounds like Björk has been taking notes from the more unhinged corners of her friend Arca’s discography.
Fever Ray’s take on ‘Features Creatures’ almost reverses the process. While the Utopia original was beautiful where ‘This Country Makes It Hard To Fuck’ is abrasive, Dreijer takes the track to a place not dissimilar to Plunge’s ‘This Country’ - which is to say the ‘Features Creatures’ remix is a buzzing, industrialised synth-pop number.
The mouthwatering pairing of Fever Ray and Björk delivers on its promise on this new remix EP.
