Kent – Tillbaka Till Samtiden (2007) Mini-Review

Tillbaka Till Samtiden (Back to our contemporary age) is the title of the 7th studio album from swedish band Kent.

To Kent fans reading this, first a guide to listening: this is not a traditional Kent album. Listen to it as you would a new Depeche Mode or Radiohead album. It’s not the same old, so don’t expect it. Now a quick message from Kent:

Deras uppgift i år

är att skita i allting vi sagt

Vi ger upp till slut

Vi abdikerar nu

och föruttnelsen börjar

precis när vi fyllt 37

(Show english translation)

— Lyrics from the track “Berlin”

I’m pretty sure the above is direct message from Kent to the fans that are inevitably going to dislike their new sound. It actually says “We’re 37+ now. We’ve made six albums and an EP in the same overall style. We want to do something different now. If you don’t like it: here’s where you get off the train.”

Really. All of the above pretty much sums up how different the new Kent album is compared to the old ones. While it might sound negative, I actually think Tillbaka Till Samtiden is a fantastic album. It just took me a while longer to get there. Certainly my first reaction was negative; there’s already plenty of electro pop to go around. Having given it a thorough listen, though, I’ve found that it has the usual marks of genius that exist on all of their previous albums. Good lyrics, hummable melodies and in this case, extremely well-produced and over-polished. It may in fact be too polished, but in any case it’s a good album. Vid din sida and Vy från ett luftslott are personal favourites so far.

[rating stars=”6″]