Tomorrow, in a Year
Studio album by
The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock
Released1 February 2010 (2010-02-01)
Recorded2008–09; Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen
Length92:22
LabelRabid
Producer
  • The Knife
  • Mt. Sims
  • Planningtorock
The Knife chronology
Silent Shout
(2006) 		Tomorrow, in a Year
(2010) 		Shaking the Habitual
(2013)
Planningtorock chronology
Have It All
(2006) 		Tomorrow, in a Year
(2010) 		W
(2011)
Singles from Tomorrow, in a Year
  1. "Seeds"
    Released: 7 December 2010[1]

Tomorrow, in a Year is the studio version of the music commissioned by the Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma for its opera based on Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species.[2] It is a collaboration between The Knife, Mt. Sims and Planningtorock. It was released digitally on 1 February 2010 through The Knife's own label Rabid Records prior to the physical release.

The lyrics contain excerpts of Darwin's writings, particularly On the Origin of Species. These are often without context, though the meaning of some songs is clear, for example 'Seeds' refers to Darwin's experiments to determine why certain plants are found on the coasts of many continents, despite their separation, in which he demonstrated that seeds of some plants remain viable after weeks in cold seawater, and 'Annie's Box' refers to the pivotal moment when Darwin's daughter Annie died of tuberculosis, which damaged his Christian faith, helping him to overcome his fears about the church's reaction to On the Origin of Species.

The music appears to have been composed to reflect the long arc of evolution, with the first songs having a hard, noisy and simple quality, subsequent tracks building in beauty and complexity, and incorporating progressively more lyrics and musical sounds based on animal vocalisations. Choreography was also inspired by animal behaviour including the courtship dances of birds. The opera was completed in 2009 to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species and toured Europe in 2010.

The album was recorded, mixed and produced in Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen between 2008 and 2009. Recording for the live percussion took place at Sounds Studio in Iceland, while outdoor sounds were recorded at the Mamori Artlab Workshop on the Amazon River, Brazil. Tomorrow, In a Year features guest appearances by mezzo-soprano Kristina Wahlin, Danish actress Lærke Winther Andersen and Swedish pop artist Jonathan Johansson.[3]

Track listing

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic67/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
BBC Musicpositive[6]
Drowned in Sound10/10[7]
musicOMH[8]
Pitchfork6.9/10[9]
PopMatters5/10[10]
Resident Advisor3.5/5[11]
The Skinny[12]
Slant Magazine[13]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5[14]
Disc one
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Intro"The Knife4:32
2."Epochs"The Knife, Mt. Sims5:43
3."Geology"The Knife, Mt. Sims4:24
4."Upheaved"The Knife, Mt. Sims3:03
5."Minerals"The Knife, Mt. Sims1:18
6."Ebb Tide Explorer"The Knife, Mt. Sims7:06
7."Variation of Birds"The Knife, Mt. Sims6:41
8."Letter to Henslow"The Knife, Mt. Sims, Planningtorock2:01
9."Schoal Swarm Orchestra"The Knife, Planningtorock8:36
Disc two
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Annie's Box"The Knife4:28
2."Tumult"The Knife3:28
3."Colouring of Pigeons"The Knife, Mt. Sims11:01
4."Seeds"The Knife, Mt. Sims9:00
5."Tomorrow in a Year"The Knife, Mt. Sims12:20
6."The Height of Summer"The Knife3:47
7."Annie's Box" (Alt. Vocal) (bonus track)The Knife4:54

Personnel

Credits for Tomorrow, In a Year adapted from album liner notes.[15]

Charts

Chart (2010) Peak
position
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[16] 79
Swedish Albums Chart[17] 24
US Dance/Electronic Albums[18] 10
US Heatseekers Albums[18] 32

Release history

Region Date Label Format
Germany[19] 1 February 2010 Cooperative Music Digital download
Sweden[20] Rabid Records
United States[21] 2 February 2010 Mute Records
Australia[22] 5 February 2010 Etcetc
Sweden[23] 26 February 2010 Rabid Records 2CD
Australia[24] 5 March 2010 Etcetc
Germany[25] Cooperative Music
United Kingdom[26] 8 March 2010 Brille Records
United States[27] 9 March 2010 Mute Records
United Kingdom[28] 30 November 2012 Brille Records Digital download

Critical reception

Drownedinsound gave the studio album 10/10, describing it as "coldly overwhelming". Pitchfork reviewed the album 6.9/10, saying the album "either demands your full attention or invites you to turn it off".[29][30] BBC Music described the album as "complicated, esoteric and, yes, really quite bonkers".[31] The opera was rated 3/5 by the Guardian, with the reviewer criticising the harsh sound of the first several tracks, the very gradual introduction of vocals and the contextless way in which Darwin's writing was generally presented.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Seeds – EP (feat. Mt. Sims & Planningtorock) av The Knife, Mt. Sims & Planningtorock" (in Swedish). iTunes Store Sweden. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  2. ^ "The Knife in Collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock – Tomorrow, In a Year". theknife.net. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  3. ^ "The Knife – Tomorrow, in a year". Rabid Records. Retrieved 18 February 2010. Note: Select the "Credits" tab.
  4. ^ "Tomorrow, In A Year – Planningtorock". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Allmusic review". AllMusic.
  6. ^ "BBC review".
  7. ^ "Drowned in Sound review". Archived from the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  8. ^ "MusicOMH review".
  9. ^ "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork.
  10. ^ "Pop Matters review".
  11. ^ "Resident Advisor review".
  12. ^ "The Skinny review".
  13. ^ "Slant Magazine review". Slant Magazine. 13 March 2010.
  14. ^ "Sputnikmusic review".
  15. ^ Tomorrow, In a Year (CD liner notes). The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock. Rabid Records. 2010. RABID044.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ "The Knife with Mt. Sims and PlanningtoRock – Tomorrow, In A Year" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  17. ^ "The Knife with Mt. Sims and PlanningtoRock – Tomorrow, In A Year". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 October 2010.
  18. ^ a b "Tomorrow, In a Year – The Knife/Mt. Sims/Planningtorock". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  19. ^ "Tomorrow, In a Year von The Knife" (in German). iTunes Store Germany. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  20. ^ "Tomorrow, In a Year av The Knife" (in Swedish). iTunes Store Sweden. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  21. ^ "Tomorrow, In A Year by The Knife". iTunes Store US. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  22. ^ "Tomorrow, In A Year by The Knife, Mt. Sims & Planningtorock". iTunes Store Australia. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  23. ^ "Tomorrow, in a Year (2CD) – Knife in Collaboration With Mt.Sims" (in Swedish). CDON.se. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  24. ^ "Tomorrow, In A Year – Knife, The". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  25. ^ "Tomorrow,in a Year" (in German). Amazon. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  26. ^ "Knife in Collaboration With Mt Sims And Planningtorock: Tomorrow,In A Year: 2cd". HMV. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  27. ^ "Tomorrow, In A Year: The Knife". Amazon. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  28. ^ "Tomorrow in a Year by The Knife, Mt. Sims & Planningtorock". iTunes Store UK. Apple Inc. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  29. ^ "Drowned in Sound". Archived from the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  30. ^ Pitchfork
  31. ^ BBC Music Reviews Tomorrow, in a Year
  32. ^ The Guardian – Tomorrow in a Year
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