『 Kent - Töntarna 』

It's been two years since Kent's last studio album Tillbaka Till Samtiden, and yesterday, their new single Töntarna from the upcoming album Röd had its retail premiere, roughly a week after the digital release. I finally got my copy, a day late, because my local music store couldn't be bothered with packing up the boxes the day they have arrived. Running a music store these days can't be easy, and I'm sure that this kind of attitude will lose them customers in favour of on-line retailers who, surprisingly, deliver on time.


For those who don't know, Kent is a Swedish indie and alternative rock band, whose music I am a huge fan of. They've been active since 1990, and during the last couple of years, they've been drifting more and more towards a sound that I could only describe as a modern take on the '80s synthpop. The noticeable change of style however, did not affect the quality of Kent's releases - on the contrary, based on taste, one could argue that the quality is constantly improving, and that's exactly what kept me a faithful fan of the group.


Töntarna, which translates to "dorks" by the way, is a three track single, featuring the title song and two remixes - one by a British DJ duo Punks Jump Up, who have plenty of mix tracks on their list of achievements, and another by Familjen, a one man electronica act from Sweden. This is the second time when Punks Jump Up remix Kent, first one being their version of Vy Från Ett Luftslott from Tillbaka Till Samtiden, and I have to say that their take on the song comes out on top. If you want to listen to the remixes, look up MySpace pages of the respective mixers and knock yourself out. Above is the original song, so before you go on a remix hunt, I suggest you listen to it first.


The full album Röd will be released sometime next month and will be available in two versions. One will be a regular CD and the other an exclusive box containing the cd album with an alternative cover, three ten inch LPs, a USB memory stick loaded with mp3 files and a 120 page book. Sounds like a proper collector's edition and I'll most definitely get it, but it will set me back $94. Oh well, at least I won't be buying a separate vinyl this time around.