To say I was apprehensive about the new Kent album back in March, is a massive understatement. This is largely because their last one, 2002's "Vapen och Ammunition", was Kent at their most perfect. My instincts were initially right, to a point. I'll elaborate on that, but first, allow me to attend to the need-to-know basics (again).
These 5 Stockholm residents (though originally from Eskilstuna) consisting of Joakim Berg (Vocals), Martin Sköld (Bass), Sami Sirviö (Guitar), Harri Mänty (Guitar) and Markus Mustonen (Drums) have notched up 6 studio albums on their Swedish belts in their 10 year recording career, plus, a nifty compilation of B-sides entitled "B-sidor 96-00", which is hardly an inspired title, but it's to the point. Again, this, their 6th album, sees them (hears?) offer only a version of the Swedish variety, their days of recording in both English and Swedish have long since gone. Personally, I don't mind, and I really think you shouldn't, either. Variety can be good.
Before I launch into my analysis, I want to draw your attention to the album cover artwork. Bizarre, even slightly forbidding, isn't it? What caught my attention is the sort of story which runs through the accompanying lyric booklet. It goes something like this;
1. (Cover) Skeleton (complete with jaunty hat) and semi-naked Tim Burton-esque girl (yes, that's a girl. Not Thom Yorke) play cards together. Perhaps a skit of Ingmar Bergman's chess game with death? Possibly, it'd make sense.
2. They get up. Girl, now fully clothed, follows skeleton, she has what looks like a sonic blaster gun in her hand. Her eyes stare out at you, she has a wry smile on her face.
3. They're both in a dark room, she sits quietly, watching Mr skeleton on the other side of a wooden table, which is littered with cups and full ashtrays. Mr Skeleton appears to be either writing something, or about to be injecting himself with a syringe. It's hard to tell, the picture of the man fighting with a big bear behind him is a distraction.
4. A face shot of the girl, as she rolls a joint, with skeleton laughing maniacally behind her.
5. They're walking together through a wood. Side by side, both blankly staring ahead.
6. The last picture. She stands, spade (shovel) in hand, smile on her face. Shovelling soil onto Mr Skeleton, who now sits limply in an open grave. A crow hovers over the cross shaped headstone.
It's all very dark, and scary. Symbolic, even. But mostly it perfectly presents in picture form, the themes and stories of this album. Therefore gives the non-Swedish speaker a clearer idea of the album, lyrically. Also, the booklet is mostly black, even the jewel case is completely black, though you can just make out the album's cover through the darkness.
But then, the album is entitled "Du och Jag Döden" [You and Me Death].
"Du och Jag Döden" (2005 BMG)
Produced by:
Kent & Stefan Boman
The theme behind this album is indeed, dying, death and Death. Take the opening song, "400 Slag" [400 Blows]. The opening verse leaves little to the imagination as to the song's subject matter;
Trans; [The verdict fell on a morning flight to London,
Silent heavy steps coming toward you.
The verdict fell even though you always used a condom,
With the scythe swaying your old friend is waiting]
I found that opener rather bracing to say the least. For various reasons, but mostly for the image I got of Death perched on the back of aeroplane seat, scythe in hand, patiently waiting for passenger # 24 to pop his clogs. Despite passenger # 24 always wearing condoms (sensible chap) he's going to die anyway. Thus, despite precautions we might take in life, ultimately we will die. The chorus, lyrically, faintly whiffs of François Truffaut’s movie "The 400 Blows" (hence the song title). A movie which incorporates coming of age with juvenile delinquency. Plus, 400 Blows? That'd kill anyone. But enough about the lyrics, the music is equally as interesting. It's like a nifty amalgamation of U2 meets The Cure meets New Order, perfectly blended to produce something that's beyond sublime. The verses are subdued, underlaid by a constant rattling guitar, while the verses are bigger, anthemic, like a fusion of rock meets gothic electronica.
"Du Är Ånga" [You Are Steam] again, invites the listener to a dark place in music. It almost feels like an industrial landscape, with neatly placed buildings of equal sizes placed amongst various large metal structures surrounded by smog, with a melodic clanging of work in progress that can be heard for miles. It's quite an evenly paced song, but the instrumentation is bold and deep. The lyrics are the reminiscing thoughts of a man who has been so consumed by drugs through life, that he has become a sick shadow of his former self. "Den Döda Vinkeln" [The Dead Angle] offers a musical reprieve by way of a sullen, yet thoughtful series of acoustic prettiness, with some places consisting of (again) Cure-esque darkness. All this echoed in the lyrics of someone seeking respite from Seasonally Affected Disorder induced depression;
Ge mig en Vinterdrog,
Ge mig allt du har.
Kom nu jag är kroniskt låg,
Bara mörkret hörs.
[Give me a winter-drug
Give me all you have
Come now I’m chronically low
Only the darkness is heard]
Something altogether musically different occurs on "Du Var Min Armé" [You Were My Army]. This breathy, fluffy, whisper of a song is beautiful. If only for the organ and various other synthesised moments. It's a quiet song that quietly flows, making the listener feel all warm inside. The lyrics, however, are rather sad. The protagonist is cut to pieces after being seemingly unexpectedly dumped by a heartless, metaphorical knife holding, German car owning lover. I wonder if it was a Volkswagen.
Following is what will be Kent's new single, "Palace & Main" [Duh]. An accurate choice for a single, given its innate catchiness, high factoring chair dancing score, and it namechecks Michael Caine and Robin Wright-Penn. It's a perky song with a New Order buzz which I love. But what I love most is the opening verse, which has Joakim shooting a DJ at a night club (hold on before you judge me for liking that..!);
Trans; [I shot a DJ late last night,
The blood splashed became a Pollock in his booth.
I flee through a darkened corridor,
My indie-heart pounds and pounds and pounds]
See in my head, he shot the DJ because he accidentally played Ace of Base, which isn't the done thing in an Indie club. Justifiable homicide. Jocke has obviously been taking lyrical tips from Morrissey, now there's panic on the streets of Stockholm.
"Järnspöken" [Iron Ghosts], is a dainty little acoustic ballad that concerns itself a burnt down amusement park (Grönan.. it's in Stockholm), a ghostly Berg wandering around old haunts, stumbling upon a crime scene where a frozen corpse has been found mutilated in a shallow grave. Possibly the body of an old friend he himself murdered years ago. Nice. Musically it paints itself much prettier than its gruesome content. The lone guitar quietly playing alongside Berg's plaintive voice. "Klåparen" [The Bungler] musically is almost like a "With or Without You" by U2 reprise, albeit slower, and more sparse. It's a beautiful song filled with delicate moments, which build to fantastically anthemic moments. The guitars are bright and airy, reaching out and almost touching you in hidden places. Giving you pangs of elation, leaving you feeling deeply satisfied and feeling like you could take on the world. It's that good. Lyrics? Well they appear to be about a person reflecting on a dark and empty life, as the lights slowly begin to fade. I think they may have died at the end. Oh how the upbeat, optimistic lyrics just get better.
"Max 500" [the name of a club in Eskilstuna, where Kent are originally from] is currently still floating around the Scandinavian top 40. It's a strange, yet oddly likeable song, which half reminds me of Depeche Mode circa late 80s. A song with lots of energy, musically varied, yet still reeking of a politer version of goth rock. Berg's lyrics utilise bizarre images, such as spotting UFOs alongside the likes of Keats and Baudelaire, a pattern on a snowy landscape being likened to that of the stitches on Frankenstien's monster. There's also dancing with Fred Astaire. You really couldn't ask for more. "Romeo Återvänder Ensam" [Romeo Returns Alone] starts out gently, Berg's vocals a haphazard mix of up front and distant echoes. The song picks up speed and soon settles into more of that New Order/ Cure-like blend found at the beginning of the album. For me it's perhaps the album's weakest track, seeming a bit generic and "filler", but it's still quite good. With a title that includes the word "Romeo", coupled with Berg's previous engagements with death on this album, you just know that there's poison and dead people lurking in the lyrics. But there's no mention of Juliet, funny that. Just Romeo wearing jeans (probably sparkly tight ones designed by Dior, like Berg wore at a recent concert, and which I hope make a reappearance at the Roskilde Festival)
"Rosor & Palmblad" [Roses and Palmleaves] Abondons guitars in favour of the quiet piano and brass instruments. A ballad done in typical Kent style, absolutely perfectly. I particularly like the way it builds around the bridge and then softens to a lull, with Berg utilising his voice as another instrument. It ends all to soon, and so begins the final track, "Mannen i Den Vita Hatten" (16 år senare) [The Man in the White Hat (16 years later)]. A perfect closer, if I might say so. It various quite dramatically musically, mixing the quiet with choruses of anthemic proportions, mixing guitars with pianos and orchestral moments, whilst Berg varies from an almost talking verse, to a rolling soar of a chorus. Lyrically, it ends where the album began;
Trans; Except we will all die one time,
Yes we will all die one time
That we will, Joakim, that we will.
Och alla som älskat dig, har hatat mig av rädsla
[And all who have loved you, have hated me out of fear]
I must admit that upon the first few listens, I wasn't instantly grabbed by this album as much as I was by their previous one. It took me a good while to fully chew on it and digest it without feeling the need to vomit out of passing disappointment. Largely that's due to the pedestal on which I'd placed "Vapen och Ammunition" (their aforementioned previous one), plus, I wasn't expecting such a dramatic change in style. But much like entering a dark room after being out in the sun, my eyes finally became accustomed to the darkness. What I found after that, was an album rich in dramatic style, slightly retro even, which became pleasing to my ears. What struck me more, is how lyrically complex the album is, compared to their previous works, Berg exchanging his often fluffy, nonsensical lyrics for something more mature and infinitely gruesome. It was a dawning realisation that Berg (who is pretty much the brains behind the lyrics and music on this album) had actually grown up, turned into an adult fast approaching mid thirtysomething and beginning to question his own mortality. Yeah. I can identify with that.
(And should you decide to buy it, I'd be more than happy to provide translations for these tales of murder, suicide pacts, terminal illnesses, drug habits and self loathing mid-life crises.)
Berg's vocals seem to have got a little more confident too, perhaps even sexier (if that's at all possible) and the nifty note sliding he appears to have adopted is lovely. This time Kent as a group have dug a little deeper and flirted with an entirely different sound, the gloom is still there, but this time it's walking around blindfolded, stumbling over dead bodies and everything. Creating dark, gothic sounds that are often quite philosophical and creepy, and despite their forbidding endless stream of doom filled stories, the songs on this album are a pleasure to listen to. So after much inner deliberation on my part, I have concluded that this album is fantastic. Kent have made me fall in love with them all over again. Now the only vomitty feelings I get when I listen, are the ones caused by an excess of over zealous butterflies.
Sigh.
Cheers.
Tracks: 400 slag / Du Är Ånga / Den Döda Vinkeln / Du Var Min Armé / Palace & Main / Järnspöken / Klåparen / Max 500 / Romeo Återvänder Ensam / Rosor & Palmblad / Mannen i Den Vita Hatten (16 år Senare)
Overall 4.8 stars (0.2 deducted for weak aspects of "Romeo återvänder Ensam")
All lyrics quoted copyright Joakim Berg
Similar Artists (for this album) U2, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order.
Great Music to Play While: Shuffling off this mortal coil.
Other Kent Reviews;
Verkligen
Isola
Vapen och Ammunition
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