The warmness and vitality of spring brings us a new cycle of vegetation, but the season also means 2013 is moving at full-speed towards many anticipated musical releases (I personally can't wait for new sounds from Marnie Stern, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Earl Sweatshirt). Among the new crop of musical ardor is electronic pop duo The Knife's upcoming album, Shaking the Habitual, set for release in early April.

Late last year, the following video teaser was released on YouTube:

As you may know, Karin Dreijer Andersson of The Knife performs solo as Fever Ray. The icy-chill hauntings of her musical project were finely recorded for 2009's self-titled album, Fever Ray.

This album hits and resonates on a visceral level of listening. The opening track,If I Had A Heart, is ominous in tone that contrasts with any Tin Man's point of view. The song also conceptually frames the album as a claustrophobic horror story.

A definite highlight of the album, Keep The Streets Empty For Me creates a huge sense of space through its sonic production of reverberant synth hits and electrifying synthesizer shrills. Throughout the record, you truly gain a sense of physical emptiness within a large, vacuous space. The aural recreation of the Scandinavian peninsula's terrain and environment washes over the listener in such a way that resembles a trance. As a testament to this highly-original piece of work's personal connection, almost all of the vocals, engineering, mixing, and producing was done by Fever Ray herself.

- Ben Cruz

Turn on and tune in now: ASSR Album Of The Week on Spotify