Aside from making me feel really old in comparison to the high school aged audience, it was an amazing show and was all that I thought it would be.

Last year, The Knife coupled with Hotel Pro Forma to produce an electro opera based on Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species entitled, Tomorrow, in a Year. The opera incorporated various visual electronic displays that provided a unique take on traditional opera asthetic. A video of the performance can be seen below and a complete description of the performance concept can be found here.

A studio version is being produced by The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock. The album will be released February 2, 2010 online and in stores March 9, 2010.

‘Tomorrow, In A Year’ is a unique musical project. Richard Dawkins’ gene trees have formed the basis of some of the musical composition, artificial sounds have been mixed with field recordings, with the music inspired by everything from the different stages of a bird learning its melody, to a song based on Darwin’s loving letters about his daughter Anne. These are compositions that challenge the conventional conception of opera music.
[via antimusic]

Sample the track below

Visit RCRD-LBL to download the track free

Find out more about album track listing and performance dates from Big Stereo

Credits

Read more about other high-tech operas from here. [via Fast Company]

Of Note:
I adore Mt. Sims and had the pleasure of meeting and hosting him when he played in ATL in 2004 – good to see he’s still up to great things. I also adore The Knife and so I’m planning on picking this album up as soon as it’s released.