I’m taking a look at The Knife’s “Is It Medicine”:

This song begins with a punchy synth jumping the octave. A drum machine enters fairly quickly, some kind of techno kit because of the laser-like bass drum and the crisp snare. It’s a disco sort of beat, the bass and snare alternating with a high hat. This establishes the basic beat of the song- there are no other instruments, in fact, underneath the voice. The vocals enter with an initial phrase that comes in directly over the established pattern. The octave note changes when the phrase is repeated, but the phrase is repeated exactly. The vocal phrase is repeated four times identically, with the instrumental phrase repeating twice (two vocal phrases to each instrumental phrase, as the note changes on the repeat of the vocal phrase). This entire thing is then exactly repeated again, but the high hat now plays on every sixteenth note instead of just the offbeats. Then, the 4 vocal phrases and the drum beat stays constant, but the synth changes rhythm (although the harmony is still the same). Once this final phrase of 4 vocal phrases ends, we return to the sixteenth-note synth and claps are introduced for the first time. It prepares us for the next part of the song, in which the synth and drum beat stay the same but the vocal line becomes a kind of chant on “is it medicine, is it medicine, is it medicine or social skill.” Another synth enters the picture as well, providing counterpoint to the chant. Later, voices take the place of this synth, sighing and moaning in the same place as the synth did. Finally, with the music remaining unchanged except for claps again, the song ends with various grunts and moans from the vocalists.

This song demonstrates The Knife’s ability to take simple musical ideas (in this case, a single vocal phrase and then a vocal chant) and still keep a song interesting. They repeat the same phrase 12 times, but the changing instrumentation keeps the listener engaged- sometimes the drums become more active, sometimes the synth becomes less active, etc. The complexity comes from the ways in which they change the music, however, and not from added instruments because there are only really two instruments in the entire piece: the synth and the drum kit. By establishing a strong beat, however, and then shifting that beat, the artists can still surprise the listener and keep us waiting to hear what will happen next.

The song structure is sort of unusual, in the sense that there isn’t really a traditional chorus, verse pattern set up even though the song seems primed to do so. The “verse” phrase at the beginning doesn’t return later in the song, we simply turn to what could be a “chorus” phrase with the chant. The song has simply two parts, related through instrumentation and beat, but not recurring in the larger scheme of the piece. The Knife simply repeats a phrase several times in a row, then moves on to something else.