Write it down. Kent‘s new album will be released Tuesday, March 15th.
The above image is a mockup of how the cover will look, just as a teaser.
Update March 10th: The final artwork and tracklist has been released.
Update March 15th: Got it. It’s fantastic. Simply fantastic. Expect a review soon.
Cover
Not too fond of it. While it does communicate “You & me death” (the title), I actually liked the teaser artwork better.
Tracklist
Key: Swedish [English translation]
- 400 slag [400 beats]
- Du är ånga [You are steam]
- Den döda vinkeln [The dead angle]
- Du var min armé [You were my army]
- Palace & Main
- Järnspöken [Iron ghosts]
- Klåparen ["The fumbler" or "the bungler" (Thanks Henrik!)]
- Max 500 [Trivia: Named after a bar in Eskilstuna, the home town of Kent]
- Romeo återvänder ensam [Romeo returns alone]
- Rosor & Palmblad [Roses and palmleaves]
- Mannen i den vita hatten (16 år senare) [The man in the white hat (16 years later)]
A few surprises there. For one thing, that’s 11 tracks. I would have expected 10 tracks like their last album. That’s great news.
Another surprise, to me, is the song titles. It’s almost a Kent tradition to keep most of the song titles in one or max two words. Noll, Verkligen, Chans, Spökstad, 747, Indianer, Livräddaren, OWC, Bianca, Kevlarsjäl just to name a few. The songtitles on this album on the other hand, are long and very detailed.
The final surprise is that Max 500 (the first single) is placed as track #8. My guess would have been that it would be placed as #2 or #3, atleast early on. Not sure what to make of that, but it’s probably a good sign.
All in all this seems like it’s going to be a fantastic album. Just a few more days. I only hope I can get hold of the Limited Edition, which is said to have a plain black cover…
eh!? Do you do their artwork then?
To be honest, I’ve never heard of them, but will give it a listen..
Ack, no. I’m actually not too fond of this artwork… I don’t really like the cloud thingy. I should of course have mentioned that I made the above mockup based on teaser artwork and a tiny webstore cover shot.
GREAT! Until this album comes out, you can start out with my recommended songs from the archives. I think Allmusic might have some sound samples.
That is one cool cover, I can’t wait. If only CDs were reasonably priced here in Denmark, then I could get both The Incredibles and Du & Jag D?den for the gift certificate I got yesterday.
Judging from Max 500 (always a good way to judge an album) this will be one hell of an album.
I just bought The Incredibles from CD-Wow. 15 GBP / 160 DKK. Not too bad. I hear you can get it from AxelMusic.dk as well, but that’s as part of some club or something. I’ll get it in a few days.
It is going to be one hell of an album. I haven’t looked this much forward to an album since… well, last time Kent made Vapen & Ammunition. But still, it’s like christmas.
I can’t wait for the album. Just 5 more days… I haven’t heard any of the new songs yet.
If only i was able to get it here in Holland as well. But i will have to order it from Sweden instead. Do you know where i could download it, legally? Just don’t want to wait on shipping. And i would like to avoid the personnr. I have one, but i shouldn’t use it anymore, because i don’t live there anymore. CDon requires the number.
Enjoy the new album!
The only song released, is the first single: Max 500. It’s really good.
Damn, I was gonna recommend CDon. But there are several more. Go to kent.nu and look in the bottom left. It says “CDon”. Around that there’s a lot of other links to e-stores that will sell the album digitally. Maybe you can find a store that’ll satisfy your need there. Unfortunately it’s all in WMA
Trust me! I will!
i’m not gonna buy that WMA stuff. I’ll just wait for it at the iTunes MusicStore. They allready have a few albums there. And they are in Swedish, not the English versions.
Hopefully they will release it on iTMS the same day as in Sweden. I’m sure i will enjoy it as much as you will.
What’s your favourite Kent song by the way?
Hello! You’ve go the translation for “Kl?paren” wrong. A “kl?pare” is a person who is bad at what he/she is doing. Quite hard to translate, but “The fumbler” or “The bungler” could work.
Best regards.
Maarten,
I wouldn’t buy WMA either. Although I was so close to buying the single when it came out, just to hear it a day early.
That’s varied from time to time. When I initially learned about Kent, it was (of course) 747. It’s still a fantastic song.
Over the years I’ve been past both “Visslaren” from Hagnesta Hill, and “Bianca” from Isola, not to mention “10 minuter f?r mig sj?lv” from Verkligen and “L?ngtan Skala 3:1″ from B-sidor 95-00.
If I have to mention one song though, it would be a battle between “En Himmelsk Drog” from Hagnesta Hill and “Utan dina andetag” from B-sidor 95-00. “Utan dina andetag” would probably win — it’s a fantastic song.
But it’s a really tough question, because the new Max 500 (and the B-sides!) are really tough candidates as well! I’m sure it’ll change when the new album arrives.
Henrik,
Thanks for the tip! My Swedish is a little rusty. I’ve updated the article.
Well, I just bought the limited edition from CD-ON… Should take 7-8 days to arrive…
As for the song title being short, V&A has got “Hur jag fick dig att ?lska mig”…
I just hope the album is good, the cover is slightlty unsettling I have to admit.
Sheesh, I didn’t know it was available from CDON. Just while writing this I jumped to kent.nu to read the frontpage again. A few days ago, I’m sure it said that the limited edition would only be for sale in stores. Perhaps this was edited out once they realized CDON had it.
Thanks much for the tip! Just now I have purchased the limited from CDON. This blog post has turned out to be amazingly useful. Without it, I would have ended up with the “plain” version.
Ah that’s right. But don’t you agree they usually stick to short titles? Just think about the concatenated “VinterNoll2″…
Me too, though I’m pretty sure the album is good. As for the cover, indeed it is pretty depressing. However, depressing usually means beautiful, when it comes to Kent. With that said, I’m getting the LTD edition now, so that means a plain black cover!
I obviously don’t speak Swedish… would it be blasphemous to ask if they’re releasing an English version too, or should I just learn Swedish?
I’ve been playing 747 nonstop (yes, the English translation) for the last week or so. It’s great. Just my kind of music. Thanks for the numerous reccomendations! And if they do release this in the states I’ll jump on it.
Chances are slim to none that they release an english version. They did, according to Joen, have an english version of Vapen & Ammunition in the works, but for unknown reasons it got scrapped.
That said, however, I don’t think you have to know the words to a song to like it. Although my German is quite horrific I really enjoy Rammstein, and especially the song Moskau which has large parts in Russian.
Glad I could be of help (i.e. CD-ON)
The reason they did not release V&A in English (as opposed to Hagnesta Hill and Isola) is because they did not make it big outside Sweden. Isola was supposed to be THE Album to conquer America but that backfired. I don’t speak Swedish although I am getting better at it all the time thanks mainly to music, it’s well worth the effort I think.
I think the reason they said the Ltd edition would only be available in Stores is because of the poster thing. I don’t think I will get that but at the end of the day, I don’t care.
Rammstein, yes, one of my favourite bands (I do speak German which helps) although I thought “Reise, Reise” was ok but not as good as “Mutter”. Give me “Spieluhr” any day of the week!
To follow the tangent, I must admit that Reise, Reise is not my favorite Rammstein album. A favorite would be a toss-up between Mutter and Sehnsucht. I like the more “electronic” feel of Sehnsucht, but the melodies of Mutter especially Sonne are really great.
With respect to learning Swedish, my pronounciation improved greatly by listening to Swedish radio every night through high school. I just had the radio running while I was sleeping. And yes, I say “sjosk” not “kiosk”, ’cause “om du s?ger kiosk er du en dumskalla.” From Swedish radio channel 3 a few months back, totally fabulous.
I guess I’ll be able to hold my horses just a little while longer, and get the ltd. edition.
Guf is having a midnight sale tonight, they open their doors at 1 minute past midnight to sell Du & Jag D?den. The first 100 will get a free Kent t-shirt. The ad was in MetroXpress today.
Thanks for the tip, Jonas.
I have, however, already pre-ordered the album from CDON. No need to buy two… I’m not that big a fan
But you could have gotten a t-shirt!!! I must admit my body needed rest more than a Kent t-shirt (as unimaginable as it may sound) so at midnight I was sound asleep.
Btw. there seems to be something wrong with the clock on your server, the time is currently 8.35, but the comment preview says it’s 9.09.
For those of you who still haven’t ordered/bought the new album: You can get it for ?9.99 at cdwow.com and by clicking here
http://www9.cd-wow.com/promotion.php?promo_refcode=14786_1
you will receive a ?1 discount.
Very cool tip S?ren, how did you manage to get such a discount?
I have, however, already purchased the album from CDON.
Got the album today, and… well, I’ve just listened through it a couple of times but I already feel that Du & jag d?den might be the best album Kent has ever made.
400 slag, Den d?da vinkeln, Palace & Main, Kl?paren, Max 500, Romeo ?terv?nder ensam and Mannen i den vita hatten (16 ?r senare) are all brilliant songs. Amazing.
Regarding the artwork for the cover; I wasn’t very fond of i either, but now that I have the album I can say that it’s not that bad actually. The cd cover is made of black plastic and the artwork on the sleeve can barely be seen through it. Sort of explains why the artwork looks a bit bright and over saturated in places.
Yes. This is an exeptional album. So far I like ‘Du ?r ?nga’ and ‘Palace & Main’ best. But the artwork is horrible. Why abandon the cold and beautiful photo artwork from the Isola- and Hagnest- era?? I like the black plastic though!
I haven’t had time to read all the lyrics yet, but those I’ve already read are so extremely beautiful and sad! I feel a little bit pity for those of you who can’t understand them.
“Visst bor det ett skrik n?gonstans i ditt lugna och tysta liv?
En vild fantasi som dr?nks i l?dvinsnostalgi.”
I’m in love again!
one more word to the song titles: mr. berg seems to have established a tendency to numbers in song titles
-> Vinternoll2
-> 400 Slag
-> Max 500
my short album review (listening to it since yesterday – cdon.com delivered one day ahead of the release date): i`m very disappointed from the booklet artwork, i think it?s simply ugly and i very much miss the isola/hagnest hill style.
and the music… i like isola and v&a much more. but again some real highlights especially 400 slag. and i think that the 2 “max 500″ b-sides are beter than some tracks on the album. i must say that i?m a bit disappointed. but it?s still good music, but just (for my taste) not as “catchy” as v&a and isola.
nevertheless, i?m fulfilling me a dream this year and will see them live in malm?
Jimmy,
Agree. I am certain it is the best album they’ve made.
Henrik,
Palace & Main is my bet for next single! A great track. I also thoroughly enjoy 400 slag, Den d?da vinkeln and Du var min arm? are my current favourites.
I also truly love Kl?paren, but I have this nagging feeling that I’ve heard that beautiful guitar riff before somewhere… I just can’t put my finger on it! Not as in “Kent copied it”, more like “I’m certain I’ve heard that melody before”.
While I do no longer think it’s horrible, I do think it’s sad they abandoned Jonas Linell’s photos, quite simply because they were so pretty and so swedish. Still, I understand why they did it. They didn’t want to repeat themselves. Furthermore, I sense a sort of apathy in the imagery… sort of a “nothing matters anyway” feel, that goes very well with the album.
Beautiful. It’s worth learning swedish just to be able to translate it. I’m going to give it a shot for English readers:
By the way, Henrik, I have to ask. Are you affiliated with kent.nu? I know the webmaster there is also named Henrik
Matthias,
I thought that exact same thing! And don’t you forget 747 there!
Give it a few days. Let it sink in
Well, I kinda agree. When I first heard the album, I would’ve replaced “J?rnsp?ken” with the B-side “M”. It would fit right in. But I suspect I just need to listen to it more.
Oh yes, how could i forget 747 ???
by the way, another music-tipp: listen to the new “athlete” album, it?s called “tourist”. especially the tracks “wires”, “half light”, “twenty four hours” and the titletrack are brilliant. if you like coldplay and kent you should like that, too!
Pretty simple. Just google-search “cdwow voucher”. Within 10 minutes you will find a valid voucher.
Heh heh heh, you rascal.
Sorry about the comment errors, by the way. I’m working on some things.
Just… Great album
There is no such a good music in Poland, where I live…
I’m kidding, of course
Joen>> No, sorry. I’m just a guy who likes art and Kent
Monika,
At least you can always hear Kent, can’t you?
Henrik,
That kind of people is very welcome around here!
Hm. I wish I could go to Sweden and see Kent – live…
Maybe somebody knows where can I find lyrics from “Du&jag doden”? I am going to translate them… to polish :F
You could also go to the danish Roskilde Festival and see them live there. While they aren’t confirmed, I have a gut feeling they’ll be there.
Plus, in an interview, the lead singer said about the title (you & me death), that he partly chose it so it would look good on a banner waving above the crowd at Roskilde
You can find them on this alternative forum – be sure to scroll, not all the texts are in the first post, but rather in separate posts down the thread.
Do you speak/read Swedish by the way?
Roskilde – it’s a good bit of the way, too. But it must be worth seeing, mustn’t it?
Swedish? I read… a bit. But I don’t speak
Thanks for the link
Grymt bra skiva. ?lskar j?rnsp?ken
Me too
Just love this new album. I was a little bit skeptic at first (put on the CD and started to clean windows and dodn’t rely listen and after 6 tracks I thought that it was just one long song) but after one week intensive listening I’m in love. Currently Du var min arm? and Max 500 are my favorites.
/B?atrice