Kent
Hagnesta Hill

THE REVIEW

Lately, when I insert this CD into the player, a flashing message appears on the stereo display saying "Nooo stoppp, pleaseee..."
Indeed, there would be reason to complain, given that this album has been spinning in the cushy air of my room for three consecutive years with record averages.

On the Kent website, it says "site of the greatest Sweden rock band."
Now, I don't believe they are the best Swedish rock band ever, but there is no doubt about the quality of their albums: introspective, sharp, melancholic, yet also contentious, angry… with style.

Hagnesta Hill is the natural and precise evolution of Isola.
And, like Isola, it is sung entirely in English by the wonderful voice of Joakim Berg, always excellent at expressing his deepest feelings in words, translating them into a language not his own.
Compared to the previous work, the sound has become more complex and less defined: that is, more reverb and atmospheric sounds (see various ballads including the wonderful Quiet Heart) and also a good dose of electronics (Cowboys, Whistle Song) without ever overdoing it.
This album cannot be classified as electronic, although, as mentioned, there has been a slight shift in that direction.
In some parts, the desire to reach the early '90s Depeche Mode is evident both in the words, "I tried to make you a believer / But you're not a receiver" (Whistle Song), and with a sound set on late '80s rhythmic bases that, mixed with today's new sounds and some spot-on riffs, create something highly catchy (Just Like Money).

But, the turning point and the true key to the album lies in the slower tracks (Kevlar Soul, Rollercoaster, Stop Me June), which hark back to the best ballads by the Smashing Pumpkins (Adore period), where samples-drum machine-4 well-played guitar chords create a small masterpiece.
In the lyrics and notes, we can find the classic silent cold that the band introduced us to in '98, plus an incredible desire to scream a desperate need for love (to write stuff like that, I think the singer had to get dumped three or four times...).

In conclusion: an album less sparse than Isola and more complete.
It might appeal to those who like the following bands: Depeche Mode, Interpol, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead (The Bends).