Sweden’s Club 8 will release a new album “The People’s Record” on Labrador March 18. According to the press-release “The band has travelled to Brazil for inspiration, bought records made in the 70′s in Western Africa, used a percussion player from Cuba and hooked up with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Concretes, Camera Obscura, Ed Harcourt). The result is unique mix of Swedish pop melodies and African rhythms”.
The mp3 I’ve received from the promo agency definitely sounds different than Club 8 used to sound. I need to listen some more times before I can say if I like it or not… What do you think?
Club 8 – Western Hospitality (update: the link is now from pitchfork, since the pr-company’s site seems to have been hacked. Thanks for the update, Brigitte!)
Tracklisting:
1. Western hospitality
2. Isn’t that great?
3. Shape up!
4. Dancing with the mentally ill
5. My pessimistic heart
6. Back to A
7. Like me
8. Be mad, get ill, be still
9. We’re all going to die
10. The people speak
It’s not bad, it’s not great. It’s certainly okay for a pop band to want to explore and integrate new sounds and instruments, but that’s not usually what creates the foundation for a great song. Thanks for sharing the mp3, cheers!
It’s interesting! Not jaw-dropping but it has a nice swish to it. Thanks~!
Hi Knut,
the PR companies site has been hacked, though my sedcurity programms didn’t find any virus attached to the Mp3,I wouldn’t provide a deeplink until their problem is fixed.
Pitchfork uploaded the Mp3 too:
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/13937-western-hospitality/
Greez,
Brigitte
damn it so many typos… I am already a bit tiered…
Brigitte: Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
I agree with Stella’s comment. The band have the right to experiment, but I hope they understand if some of their fans can’t get as excited about the new sounds… I’m sorry to say I’m not enthused. The rhythms dominate, and I don’t hear a strong main melody…the vocals are barely there…seems to be more meaningless chanting than actual lyrics. I know a lot of people enjoy rhythmic music/dancing (and don’t pay attention to lyrics), so this might be a success. I just happen to prefer their pastoral pop, melodic singing, etc.
Hmm… not sure what to make of this either. I might even suggest that Johan create another band that *always* has a different sound, instead of radically changing the established sound of his current bands. The next Acid House Kings will probably be ambient.
After several listens, I have come to the conclusion that I don’t like the new Club 8 sound. I miss so much of “the old”, but as a song that stands on its own, without the history of the band, – it’s not very interesting. I am all for experimentation and change in sound, but the key elements must be present. My favourite bands have always changed constantly from record to record, but they are always easy to recognize. I hope the rest of the album has some elements from the old Club 8.