If you witnessed one of Fever Ray's mind-melting live shows recently you might have noticed the Swedish sound artists slip a Peter Gabriel cover in halfway through.
'Mercy Street' was originally written about poet Anne Sexton and features on Gabriel's largely ambient and atmostpheric ('Sledgehammer' aside) seventh album 'So'. On reflection it's an obvious choice for a band like Fever Ray and they do it massive justice. It'll get a proper release on Rabid Records later this year.
Karin says of the track: "We made it more intense and faster to fit our eccentric pecussionists and energetic live musicians. It is a monotone track but we worked with the dynamics trying to make it sparkle. I listened to it a lot when I was around 15, and it still moves me. It made me start reading Anne Sexton too".
Fever Ray hit the UK on 6th September, playing Scotland's ABC before moving to Brixton Academy and finally Bestival.
Hear the track here.
Track composed by Peter Gabriel - head to his website for more
NME.COM blogs contain the opinions of the individual writer and not necessarily those of NME magazine or NME.COM.
Eolaí [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 11:53
"'Sledgehammer' aside"
Em, 'Big Time'?
momko [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 13:29
Not quite impressive this time
momko [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 13:32
The Nick Cave cover was awesome, but this...I don't know
mante [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 14:05
hq will probably sound a lot better. i like it so far. can't wait for the download, thanks.
music-o-maniac [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 14:20
I love it ! <3
vangelisk [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 14:22
eww this sounds too detached even for fever ray
daveyman [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 14:50
Love the original, and this is a great version by an amazing artist - the accompanying image is well disturbing though!
jonboy [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 15:33
am i being thick or is there no download link?
Stano [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 15:46
I love it! I hope the b-side is just as amazing! Fever Ray for life
Stano [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 15:47
I love it! I hope the b-side is just as amazing! Fever Ray for life
George [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:13
The quality of this track is so poor. This does not do the track justice. Where can I download an mp3?
Paul Smorshions [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:18
Love this. Everything she touches becomes golden.
Paul Smorshions [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:21
Love this. Everything she touches becomes golden.
Mario [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:26
Where do I download it from??!!
Michael [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:27
Right click on 'download...' above, and chose 'save target as'.
dyklanroux ireland [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:32
omg i love it plzz come to ireland
dekoff [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:35
The download link doesn't seem to be working unless i'm a clown
Riot Nrrrd™ [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:45
"This will be available to download" - where is the download? I only see this Brightcove player app ... and what sounds like a 56Kbps MP3 at best.
sunamatra [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:50
great...as usual! love it!!!
Ingrid Morgado [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:51
I love it !!! \o/
Milan [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 16:56
love it... love them
Mahn [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:02
momko Nick Caves Mercy Seat is a completely different song.
Pelle [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:22
'watered-down'; Fever, please don't go that route!!
eidetaker [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:24
SIMPLY FANTASTIK !
X [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:31
How can one hear this song when the page keeps refreshing automatically?
Bah.
X [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:32
How can one hear this song when the page keeps refreshing automatically?
Bah.
Nila [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:53
My God! Can't wait for the vinyl release.
Marcus [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 17:56
Where's the download link?
Tien [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 18:02
Love it!,
*Download link, rightclick on: Download Fever Ray's cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Mercy Street' here, and save link as.... then it starts downloading ;)
Tien [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 18:03
Love it!,
*Download link, rightclick on: Download Fever Ray's cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Mercy Street' here, and save link as.... then it starts downloading ;)
Clif [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 18:07
Fantastic cover! Mesmerizing.
Nova [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 18:31
Love it.
Danae [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 19:06
This woman has her own way to transform everything into pure beauty! Love this piece! Thumbs up!
Oliver [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 19:07
amazing. great cover. in my opinion, she's one of the only inspiring artists around at the moment. looking foward to a new record.
eric f [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 19:13
The MP3 is crisp and sounds amazing. very dynamic.
the encoding of the audio on this page is horrible, noise levels too high.
Batsy [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 19:25
Amazing, not that i expected any less! What a woman :-D
Basile [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 20:11
Great !
That's one more song to the live set!
pseudowave [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 20:51
awesome!!! <3
Ana [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 21:46
This is breathtaking.
DoktorMabuse [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 22:23
As much as I dig The Knife...Karin - don't stop with the Fever Ray just yet...absolutely awesome!!!
Lara [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 22:37
I click on the download link and can hear the song, but I see nothing but a black bar in the middle of my screen. What am I doing wrong here?
QueenEmma [Visitor] //August 19 2010 at 23:12
Used to adore Peter Gabriel, but think 'So' was not one of his best, and this track even less so. Sorry.
Mariel [Visitor] //August 20 2010 at 04:27
Amazing <3 thanks!
JIMBO [Visitor] //August 20 2010 at 05:13
She thinks the original was monotone? Is FeverRay completely deaf? Complete crap.
Gil [Visitor] //August 20 2010 at 06:42
Soooo, right.! The quality of this download is poor!!!! It sounds so clear when its played on this website! I guess its worth having to have. but I want good quality!
Tricky [Visitor] //August 20 2010 at 07:24
Gabriel rock's!!!
Tim Chester [Member] //August 20 2010 at 09:59
Anyone that's having problems downloading - you just need to right click on the line that says "Download Fever Ray's cover of Peter Gabriel's 'Mercy Street' here". It's 320kbps. Thanks TC
Nakiel [Visitor] //August 20 2010 at 18:03
Thnx....!
-love you all!!
;p
David [Visitor] //August 21 2010 at 20:58
Nice to see someone like Fever Ray covering Peter Gabriel. His work deserves being revisited by artists like this. Great song to start with, great version to move on with.
xbx [Visitor] //August 23 2010 at 03:28
hm, is the download gone now?
Saron [Visitor] //August 23 2010 at 17:59
greatt atmospheric sound....and haaa short in the blackboard...:)))) sweeett.
Juan Pablo Blues [Visitor] //August 25 2010 at 23:40
Lisen DEL MONTON SOUND SYSTEM - ZHETX
Juan Pablo Blues [Visitor] //August 25 2010 at 23:43
LISEN DEL MONTON SOUND SYSTEM - ZHETX
Sara [Visitor] //September 3 2010 at 16:09
I love the Momix (dance company) use of Mercy in their piece SPAWNING
like being underwater
