Fever Ray

As soon as melancholic minimalist virtuoso Fever Ray (aka the Knife's Karin Dreijer Andersson) ascended the stage for the Swede's Pop Montreal performance, the crowd was whisked away at Metropolis to a land of capricious fantasy and ritualism. Andersson and her three accompanying band-mates were divine phantoms - faceless silhouettes behind a façade of smoky, low-lit lamps, and later an unbelievable laser show. Fever Ray is almost as well known for her visually compelling live show as she is for her spooky tunes, and the relationship between the two together lends to an engrossing spectacle. The festival anticipated high attendance for the show, and there were moments where the venue felt distractingly large, but overall, it was a blockbuster and will most definitely linger as both a highlight of this year's festival, and perhaps of 2009.