'There's a wave of women who want to be housewives'

Experimental pop star Karin Dreijer talks to Annabel Nugent about regressive attitudes towards families, coming out as non-binary, and the threat posed to artists from the far right

- Annabel Nugent

It takes time for the Swedish musician Karin Dreijer to turn into the gender queer electronica artist Fever Ray. Physically it is a long process that involves garish makeup, a cartoonishly large suit, and sometimes a wig but more often a bald cap. Psychologically, the transformation takes even longer. "If it's been a while [since I’ve performed], I’ll try to put on the whole costume way ahead of time and just sit there,” the 49-year-old Dreijer says. “I need to get to know it again.”

Dreijer, who is non-binary, has always been fond of masks. Two decades ago, when they first began releasing eerie electronic music (“haunted house” if you will) as the Knife with their brother, Olof, the siblings were rarely photographed without a disguise of some sort. The pair never attended the Swedish Grammis, though they won several times. And when Dreijer did accept an award for their solo work as Fever Ray in 2010, they did so wearing a frightening fleshy mask that looked like Miss Piggy left in a sauna.

Privacy may have been the initial aim, but costumes serve a different purpose these days. “I don’t think about it in that sense any more. It’s more a way to make the performance true or real, a way for me to try to tell stories more clearly,” says Dreijer over Zoom – sans mask.

They are home in Stockholm taking a breather from touring before flying to the UK for the End of the Road festival later this week. Breaks are necessary: Fever Ray gigs tend to provide a tremendous spectacle. They demand a lot of Dreijer who, on stage, brings their music to palpable, pounding life typically accompanied by an astounding light show. “Best show I’ve ever seen,” is not an uncommon comment to see on YouTube clips of their sets.