Wikipedia

Tillbaka till samtiden

Tillbaka till samtiden (Swedish for Back to the Present) is the seventh studio album by Swedish alternative rock band Kent. It was released on 17 October 2007 in Scandinavia through RCA Records and Sony BMG. The album is produced with Danish producer Joshua. The title means "Back to the Present", a pun on the Swedish translated title of Back to the Future (Tillbaka till framtiden).

Tillbaka till samtiden
Studio album by
Kent
Released17 October 2007 (2007-10-17)
RecordedOctober 2006 – April 2007
Studio
  • Allaire (New York City, US)
  • Park Studio (Stockholm, Sweden)
GenreAlternative rock, synthpop
Length53:21
LabelRCA, Sony BMG
ProducerKent, Joshua
Kent chronology
The Hjärta & Smärta EP
(2005) 		Tillbaka till samtiden
(2007) 		Box 1991-2008
(2008)
Singles from Tillbaka till samtiden
  1. "Ingenting"
    Released: 17 September 2007
  2. "Columbus"
    Released: 5 December 2007
  3. "Generation Ex"
    Released: 9 April 2008
  4. "Vy från ett luftslott"
    Released: 2 July 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Aftonbladet[1]
Dagens Skiva9/10[2]
Expressen[3]
Göteborgs-Posten[4]
Svenska Dagbladet[5]

Background

edit

The band began recording Tillbaka till samtiden in November 2006 in Allaire Studios in New York City.[6] In October 2006, just one month prior to the recording sessions rhythm guitarist Harri Mänty left the band which meant it was "more vulnerable when being one man less, but it has also glued us more together", according to guitarist Sami Sirviö.[6][7]

Musically, the band were influenced by electronic music artists such as Plastikman, Aphex Twin, and Anthony Rother. Sami Sirviö has said he was "tired of guitars" after recording the previous album, Du & jag döden (2005).[6]

Critical reception

edit

Anders Nunstedt of Expressen wrote: "That the songs are more electronic is only part of the explanation. Jocke Berg and Martin Sköld have remixed Kent's songwriting from scratch, without losing the thread or pushing aside the melodies. [...] But it's opening 'Elefanter' that sets the tone, an epic synth fiction in several parts where the melody is constantly building before it finally explodes into a vocoder-enhanced chorus and a rampant laptop beat."[8]

Markus Larsson of Aftonbladet wrote: "On the seventh studio album Tillbaka till samtiden the band's love for dark synthpop is clearer than ever. The sound is very much inspired by Berlin – one of the songs is even named after the German capital – and is dominated by cold synths, bass lines and electronic rhythms. The electric and acoustic guitars keep a low profile. And the song material is, as usual, strikingly strong. Several of the tracks have such obvious melodies and choruses that should be impossible to write in 2007."[9]

Commercial performance

edit

The album peaked at number one in Sweden, number two in Norway, number three in Finland and number five in Denmark. It has been certified double platinum in Sweden.[10]

Track listing

edit

All lyrics are written by Joakim Berg

Tillbaka till samtiden track listing
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Elefanter" (Elephants)Joakim Berg5:21
2."Berlin"Berg, Martin Sköld4:36
3."Ingenting" (Nothing)Berg4:17
4."Vid din sida" (By Your Side)Berg, Sköld4:55
5."Columbus"Berg, Sköld4:26
6."Sömnen" (The Sleep)Berg, Sköld4:08
7."Vy från ett luftslott" (View from a Castle in the Air)Berg, Sköld4:23
8."Våga vara rädd" (Dare to Be Afraid)Berg3:59
9."LSD, någon?" (LSD, Anyone?)Berg4:20
10."Generation Ex"Berg, Sköld4:30
11."Ensammast i Sverige" (Loneliest in Sweden)Berg8:20

Personnel

edit
 
Promo photo of the band from 2007 (from left to right): Sköld, Sirviö, Berg, and Mustonen

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tillbaka till samtiden.

Kent

edit

Additional musicians

edit
  • Goran Kajfes – trumpet on track 1, 8
  • Camela Leierth – vocals on track 7, 10

Technical

edit

Artwork

edit
  • Jonas Linell – photography
  • Helen Svensson – design, photography
  • Thomas Ökvist – design, photography

Charts and certifications

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Larsson, Markus. "Mäktigt, Kent". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  2. ^ Welander, Fredrik. "Tillbaka till Isola". Dagensskiva.com. Retrieved 15 October 2007.
  3. ^ Nunstedt, Anders. "Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden". Expressen. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  4. ^ RYLANDER, JOHAN. "Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden". Göteborgs-Posten. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  5. ^ Backman, Dan. "Tillbaka till samtiden". Svenska Dagbladet. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  6. ^ a b c Gradvall, Jan (2007). "Läs Jan Gradvalls klassiska intervju med Kent från 2007". Café Magazine. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  7. ^ Lorenzen, Benedicte (15 October 2007). "For "ukendte" til USA". metroXpress Danmark. Copenhagen.
  8. ^ Kent - Tillbaka till samtiden Expressen
  9. ^ Mäktigt, Kent Aftonbladet
  10. ^ a b "Guld & Platina - År 2007" (PDF). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
  11. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Kent – Tillbaka till samtiden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Kent: Tillbaka till samtiden" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Kent – Tillbaka till samtiden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Kent – Tillbaka till samtiden". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Årslista Album – År 2007" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Årslista Album – År 2008" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tillbaka_till_samtiden&oldid=1253529528"