Earlier entries of this series can be found here: http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/forums/vi ... ive#p45337
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“Jag har hittat nånting vackert vännen, ser du vad jag ser?”
68. Kent – Music Non Stop
The facts:
Year: 1999.
Genre: Rock.
Country: Sweden.
Album: Hagnesta Hill.
Acclaimed Music ranking: #4950.
Song ranking on Acclaimed Music in the artist’s discography: 1st, the only one.
Ranks higher than Can I Have It Like That by Pharrell Williams, featuring Gwen Stefani, but lower than Bull in the Heater by Sonic Youth.
Place in the Acclaimed Music Song Poll 2015: Not ranked.
The people:
Written by Joakim Berg.
Produced by Zed.
Lead vocals by Joakim Berg.
Backing vocals by Markus Mustonen.
Lead guitar by Sami Sirviö.
Rhythm guitar by Harri Mänty.
Bass by Martin Sköld.
Drums by Markus Mustonen.
Piano by Markus Mustonen.
The opinion:
You know the big bands from Sweden, don’t you? You know Abba, of course, and you’ll never forget The Final Countdown by Europe or All That She Wants by Ace of Base. You’re well versed in independent music, so you know The Hives, Peter Björn & John, First Aid Kit, The Field, Opeth and – this goes without saying – The Knife. You highly rate solo artists like Robyn, Lykke Li, Fever Ray and Jens Lekman. You might even know that Neneh Cherry is actually Swedish (I only found out just now…). But do you know what inside of Sweden itself is perhaps the biggest national band? It’s Kent!
In fact, it seems they are sometimes called the Swedish U2. That is some big shoes to fill. Their fame spread outside of the Swedish borders, but not out of Scandinavia. In Sweden, Finland and Norway they had a long string of hits for over twenty years, before disbanding in 2016. You might think that the reason that they didn’t break out into the rest of the world is that they sing in Swedish. Fact is, they did actually record two of their albums in both Swedish and English.
This week’s song is an example of one of their singles that was released in both Swedish and English. Kent very much wanted to conquer the world. Besides releasing English singles and translated versions of the albums Isola and Hagnesta Hill they toured the USA extensively for some period. To no avail, the English-speaking world did not take the bite. Eventually Kent decided to keep to their roots, so that after Hagnesta Hill all their work was only available in Swedish. The English adventure wasn’t completely for nothing though: Scandinavian audiences loved the translated songs and although they were only recorded for distribution abroad, the Swedish people requested a release in Sweden too. So Kent had two hit albums in a row, both released in two equally successful editions.
I can’t read Swedish so it’s hard for me to really get a grasp on the Swedish reception by critics of Kent, but it seems that their work has been very well received there by the press. What gets me more is the reaction of the critics with the English language versions of Isola and Hagnesta Hill. They were far from positive and Kent was mostly seen as another act that tried to be Radiohead, or else a Swedish version of Britpop.
I agree. When I heard Musik Non Stop for the first time I thought it sounded like something Oasis or The Verve might have put out. That it came out in the late nineties only makes heightens that feeling. It’s a rather peppy, upbeat rock song. Catchy and a nice bit of fun, but nothing that really stands out. Hagnesta Hill itself didn’t impress me either. Maybe something gets lost in translation, but it sounds rather a dime a dozen to me. Perhaps their other albums are more adventurous.
For me it’s most interesting to compare the English with the Swedish version. The difference in title (Music Non Stop vs. Musik Non Stop) doesn’t inspire much confidence. Indeed, it sounds exactly the same and I’m sure the band didn’t rerecord the instrumentals for the remake. The lyrics are no literal translation, but they evoke the same feeling of an ending that will lead to a new beginning. The English lyrics seem darker, though, as if the singer is preparing more for a definitive end, although the sinister line “It’s the soundtrack for the end” is ambiguous enough as to be able to mean many things. I like the English lyrics slightly more, but that might be because my Swedish translation isn’t up to par. The Swedish version is sung better though, the foreign tongue of singer Joakim Berg is too noticeable and makes some lines too hard to understand.
It’s an interesting phenomenon, bands that are extremely popular in their home country and not abroad. I always wonder if some of these are real gems. I have my doubts about Kent, though. In comparison, you can say about Europe what you want, but that intro to The Final Countdown was really its own thing.
6/10
Other versions:
Outside of their own English remake there don’t seem to be many covers of Musik Non Stop, though there is a fine ballad take by Carolina Wallin Pérez. There is also a pounding disco version by Tikkle Me. That’s it.
The playlist: