Jag är inte rädd för mörkret.

[sakermanser]

It's out today guys! What are your thoughts? I love it. I've been listening non-stop for hours now. Favourite tracks? "Färger på natten" is fantastic! "Hänsyn" is a bit unexpected and sounds a bit like a band called Breton.

[Brilliance]

Listenend to the first 5 songs, great melodies but the way the songs go is quite predictable, after you listen to the first verse and the first chorus you already know how the rest of the song is. Anyway I like it.

[ManInTheWhiteHat]

I listened it for the first time yesterday late at night, my first impression was that it sounds like a better version of "En Plats I Solen". Most of the songs are written in the same style of the previous album, but with more attention to details and arrangements. It's a good album but it's not what I expected, listening to "999" and "Ett År Utan Sommar" during the last month I thought they were going to release a different kind of product, something "vintage" nearer to what the band playd in the early 2000s. The tracks that most impressed me after the first listening are "Jag Ser Dig", "Ruta 1", "Tänd På", "Låt Dom Komma" (actually a dance song, but a really good one). I really don't understand why they decided to exclude a masterpiece like "Ett År Utan Sommar".
Anyway, the biggest disappointment for me comes from the last track, "Hänsyn"...I REALLY miss those guys who used to close their works with emotional, touching songs like "Det Finns Inga Ord", "Ensammast I Sverige", "Mannen I Den Vita Hatten", "747", and so on...

[SportfreundeFCkeane]

^ Completely agree with the review above, it's the most disappointing kent album for me. It's not bad but nothing other than 999 really sticks out for me but it is growing a bit at least. I prefer En plats i solen though, that one had Glassapplen, Ismael, Gamla Ullevi, and Skissker for Sommen, and Minimalisten which were all memorable but this one so far doesn't have much for me. I was also hoping they would stick to the older style which they showed in 999 but that's the only song like that on the album.

And Det Finns Inga Ord, 747, Visslaren, Manninen I Den Vita Hatten are amazing album closers (Sverige is too even though the style is shorter) so I was hoping for one of those. The weird instrumentals sort of ruin Hansyn, it would've been better with more normal instrumentals.

Overall, I like listening to the album (tracks 1-9) but I think 999 would be the only song I'd consider if I was to make a kent best of album (or 2 disc album, too many good songs for 1).

I'm not a Swedish speaker, I can look up the translations for the songs of course but it's not the same thing. The way the songs sound is more important for me, Dom Andra, Musik Non Stop, Klaparen, Vy Fran Ett Luftslott, etc are really cool sounding songs even if I don't understand them, this album doesn't really have anything like that. But I'll cut kent some slack, they've already made 5 albums, anything else is icing on the cake and I didn't expect them to still be producing music. The Swedish reviews from the albums' wikipedia page all seem to be fairly good so maybe I'm missing something as a non-Swedish speaker but I can judge the sound at least and nothing too catchy.

[sakermanser]

Aww, give the album a further listen. I am really impressed with it but do find myself skipping "Hänsyn" and "Ruta 1"...oh, and here is the song that I thought "Hänsyn" sounded like: http://youtu.be/DOUgXBNQ4OI

[Brilliance]

I do agree with the suggestion above, listen to the album at least 3 or 4 times before expressing a definitive opinion. The more I listen to it, the more it grows, it seems too simple at first listening, but then the melodies' quality emerges and the emotional strenght too.

[Reina]

It's definitely not simple, although it may sound like that at first. So far, I love it. Want to listen to it quite a couple of times more to really get to know each song. Love it when a new album comes out of a band I love, I like that 'getting to know the songs'-period.

[sakermanser]

More favourites are emerging: "Petroleum", "Jag ser dig" and "Låt dom komma". I find that the melodies are very strong on this album. Do you think there will be an English version?...LOL.

[Brilliance]

Do you think there will be an English version?...LOL.

Petroleum in English would be a European hit! But of course it's not happening...

and...
Don't you find Ruta 1 a Notwist style song?

[VicT]

Having listened to the album 4 times and, imho, it's definitely one the finest of their works up to the date. Fortunetely there's only one straight and boring track like 999. And the rest of the album reminds more of T.T.S and E.P.I.S. balancing between electronics and guitars. The closing track "Hänsyn" is moody and magnificent electronic ballad showing the band developing it's sound and not fear experimenting with orchestral pieces mixed with drum machines. Great work! "Låt Dom Komma" is dancy and catchy and reminds me of Dom Andra and Love Is A Shiled by Camouflage. Another great catchy melodic tracks mixing keyboards and guitars are Tänd På, Isis & Bast and Färger på natten. The rest of the album (except 999 is also good and melodic but quite predictable). Overall sound is light, sparse but theh production, imo, lacks more attention to the details comparing to their works done with Joshua.

[JukkeBerry]

It may take more than four listens to grasp what a great song 999 is. Joshua did a fine job, but it was time to move on. I love this album.

[VicT]

Actually I prefer more tricky and moody sound, not straight and simple pop-rock songs. The song itself is good but the Boman's production is bleak. And regarding Joushua: just compare Idioter demo with the album result On the other hand I suppose that after a dozen of takes lots of people above my post may love excellent Hänsyn with all their hearts. How do you think?

[luckyguerin13]

I can't say I am a fan of this album. Nothing really sticks out to me. Anything before DOJD could draw me in so fast, but Kent as of late has lost the appeal to my senses.

I'm sad. I will give the album some spins though.

[SportfreundeFCkeane]

Aww, give the album a further listen. I am really impressed with it but do find myself skipping "Hänsyn" and "Ruta 1"...oh, and here is the song that I thought "Hänsyn" sounded like: http://youtu.be/DOUgXBNQ4OI

It definitely does grow with more listens and it's an enjoyable enough album but I stand by what I said in terms of it being one of their weaker albums with no stand outs other than 999 for me. I really like parts of Beredd pa allt...it would've sounded good on TTS or Rod. Tracks 2-9 are fairly even for me. Maybe it is better than En plats i solen in terms of album tracks but that one had around four very strong songs and this one I think has 1-2.

The nice thing about not speaking Swedish is that it becomes harder to remember the songs so each time you hear it, it has a bit of a fresh sound to it.

Definetely sounds better on head/earphones, don't hear some of the sounds on normal speakers.

[ManInTheWhiteHat]

It's right, it grows listening to it. Nowadays, there are 8 tracks that I usually listen to all the day (1-2 and 4-9). Unfortunately I still have to fall in love with "Isis och Bast" and "Hänsyn" but there is a lot of time for it to happen.
I was thinking about that Kent albums now can be group in pairs according with the sound and "song-feeling" they have been made up with:


"Kent" and "Verligen" are Indie-Rock recordings
"Isola" and "Hagnesta Hill" as earlyRadiohead-also in English-AltRock albums
"Vapen och ammunitions" and "Du och Jag döden" (with its white tail "Hjärta och Smärta EP") as two adult-rock, emotional and splendly sad albums
"Tillbaka Till Samtiden" and "Röd" made up with mature, electronic rock
"En Plats I Solen" and "Jag Är Inte Rädd För Mörkret" are dance-rock, easier than others but still they haven't lose those melancholy tune that always they had, luckily.


In all these cases, Kent took the first record like some test for the second one, alwyas better than the first album.