Olof Dreijer
Loud Bloom
Label: DH2
Release date: May 8th, 2026
Formats: Vinyl 2xLP, CD, digital
Cat No: DH20110
TRACKLIST
- Rosa Rugosa
- Plastic Camelia
- Cassia
- Acuyuye (feat. Diva Cruz)
- Makwande (feat. Toya Delazy)
- Blood Lily
- Iris
- Echoed Dafnino (feat. MaMan)
- Laurel
- Verbena
- Coral
- Fern Valley
- Lantana
14.Shisandra
Out May 8th! In a burst of colour and rhythm that cuts a distinctive path through modern club music, The Knife’s Olof Dreijer crystallises his solo work around a gleaming debut solo album, Loud Bloom, DH2 (Dirty Hit) and will celebrate with album release parties and in-store sets with dh2 in London, Paris, Berlin and NYC
Since returning with a rush of output in 2023, Dreijer has been sprinkling dancefloors with a string of releases that perfect the fine balance of angular originality and universal appeal. The sound is bright and immediate, wild around the edges but overflowing with heart and soul. Updating a sound he first teased in the late 00s as Oni Ayhun through drag performance and a handful of enduring, celestial dance tracks like the universally adored ‘OAR003-B’, this purposefully joyful wave of recent output came after years spent working on projects for others. He was one half of legendary synth pop provocateurs The Knife with his sibling Karin Dreijer, also producing for their solo project Fever Ray as well as Houeida Hedfi, Zhala and Planningtorock more recently. He also established a music school for refugees in Berlin before continuing to teach creative music production to immigrant youth in Sweden. The striking arrival of Rosa Rugosa on Hessle Audio in 2023 heralded the dawn of a new era in his music-making, followed up by successive flourishes for Dekmantel and AD93 as well as remixes for Björk & Rosalía, Röyksopp & Robyn and more, paving the way towards Loud Bloom,coming on DH2, Dirty Hit’s electronic sister label. Dreijer says: “After taking a break I’m very happy to have arrived at allowing myself to just have fun with my own music again.“
The album pushes back against dance music disposability to reframe the key cuts from those first releases as fully-realised songs to carry with you through life. They appear alongside new tracks and new collaborations for Dreijer, rounding out his intentions as his solo career matures and moves forwards. ‘Plastic Camelia’, an updated version of ‘Camelia’ originally released on the Rosa Rugosa 12″, sums up the spirit of the record with its emotionally-charged, continually-evolving lead lines and infectious bounce.
Ideas and motivations guide Dreijer’s hand at all times in the music he makes. The desire to challenge the persistently white, male, Western dominated homogeny of the music scene led him to consciously look elsewhere for vocalists to work with. The album’s previous single “Echoed Dafnino” features a sweetly pop-tinted Arabic vocal from MaMan, a Sudanese singer based in Cairo. The incendiary stomper ‘Acuyuye’ was made with Diva Cruz, a Colombian MC and percussionist And the bumping misfit house joint ‘Makwande‘ features celebrated South African MC Toya Delazy, whose deft bars rain down in Zulu and English. Dreijer notes: “I’m so grateful for having met Toya and that we made this track together. She’s such an amazing vocalist and so creative! It’s a blessing working with her vocals and the zulu language, with all the amazing sounds. Toya’s lyric also has a very strong message, in the chorus Toya sings “qaqi ifindo” which means untying the bonds that are binding you, which I also relate a lot too!”
Across the album, Dreijer toys with the tension between pure pleasure music and his tireless thirst for the new. You might hear the structure of a Chicago house beat or a classic drum machine hit, but at every turn these tropes are remoulded into dazzling new forms. Taking inspiration from Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi and their ability to deliver bold, progressive themes and visionary sci-fi through the accessible lens of romantic fiction, Dreijer makes vividly unconventional dance music utterly instinctive and easy to love.
There is a sense of possibilities opening up in front of Loud Bloom, even in the reflective, beatless synth patterns of ‘Laurel’ and ‘Verbena’. ‘Lantana’ explores tonally-rich electro-acoustic ambient charged with microtonality. Throughout his accomplished career Dreijer has touched on a vast range of musical approaches, and in his current mode he is exploring much more than a linear ‘bangers-only’ streak. He explains: “I’m excited to finally share my full debut album with you. There are some microtonal and calmer jazzy improvisations and explorations in there, a new side I haven’t shared as much before.”
That extends to his visual practice — luminescent acrylic abstracts that have reaffirmed his identity across every well-established platform he has worked with to date. Alongside further colourful, exuberant visual direction from his partner, Brazilian creative director and costume designer Suelem De Oliveira Da Silva, Dreijer gently affirms his queer stance in opposition to the macho forces in dance music and the wider world. It’s a natural extension of a life spent actively engaged in causes from anti-racism to rights for asylum seekers. Even if Loud Bloom is primarily a manifestation of joy, Dreijer’s personal politics guide his creative decisions every step of the way. Originally commissioned for Brazilian choreographer Renan Martins‘ dance piece Guerrilla, ‘Shisandra‘ and ‘Blood Lily’ are Dreijer’s idea of a soundtrack to a protest.
Foremost, you can hear Dreijer’s heart front and centre on Loud Bloom, bursting out of his effervescent melodies. Gathering together his peerless body of work to date and teasing the possibilities for the future, it’s a perfect affirmation of the singular brilliance that makes his music so utterly essential.
ALBUM CREDITS
All tracks written, produced and performed by Olof Dreijer
Mastering Engineer: Johan Åkerström
Mixed by Olof Dreijer and Johannes Berglund
Graphic Design by Samuel Burgess-Johnson
Original Paintings by Olof Dreijer
Cat. No. DH20110 – All rights reserved
℗ & © dh2 2026
TOUR DATES
9 May – Muting The Noise, Berlin – dh2 in-store showcase
15 May – WAK, Los Angeles
16 May – The Ground, Miami
21 May – Public Records, NYC – dh2 release party
22 May – Yu Yu CDMX
3 June – Primavera Sound, Barcelona – dh2 showcase
31 July – Dekmantel Festival (DJ Set w/ Toya Delazy vocals)
