Kent (band)

Kent is a Swedish rock band founded in Eskilstuna in 1990, with the name Coca-Cola Kids, later Jones & Giftet (Jones & the Poison), and Havsänglar (Sea angels). In the band's logotype, the 'k' is lower-case. Kent have had several big Swedish radio hits since the breakthrough single Kräm (Så nära får ingen gå). As of 2005, they are probably the most popular rock band in Sweden, but are more or less unknown outside Scandinavia. They have tried an international career with English versions of the albums "Isola" and "Hagnesta Hill" and accompanying US tours, but gave up after not reaching the break-through they had hoped for.

Members

• Joakim Berg – Lead vocals, guitar
• Martin Sköld – Bass
• Markus Mustonen – Drums, backing vocals
• Sami Sirviö – Lead guitar
• Harri Mänty – Rhythm guitar (from 1995)
• Thomas Bergqvist – Synth (1990–92)
• Martin Roos – Rhythm guitar (1992–95)

History

Kent and Verkligen (1995-1996)

In 1995 Kent released their epynomous debut Kent. It was distorted and not much reminiscent of what Kent would release in later years. It got almost no commercial reputation at all. Four singles were released, with "Frank" closest to being a hit.

Only one year after, in 1996, Kent released Verkligen (Really). Guitarist Martin Roos had left the band for his career at Kents record company BMG, but have since been the band's manager. The pre-release single "Kräm (Så nära får ingen gå)" immediately became a radiohit and gained Kent some serious fame for the first time. Two more singles was issued, "Gravitation" and "Halka" - The later one latter to be hated with a passion by the group. Musically the album was slower with less distortion and more emotion.

Isola (1997-1998)

In 1997 Kent released Isola. Guitarist Harri Mänty had joined the group since Verkligen. Verkligen had been heavily toured, gaining some reputation for Kent. The pre-release single, "Om du var här", became a hit as would the second single, "Saker man ser". Musically the album changed a lot from Verkligen, going a lot in the direction of slower, more thoughtful songs with more emotion, this is the lowest Kent-album. The last song on the album, the 7 minutes 47 seconds long "747", with a charasteristic keyboard riff and a long instrumental outro, became the bands closer for every show for the next 8 years, and won numerous best-song polls on Kent's website. It was also released as a single, cut down to four minutes and with an added short chorus.

In 1998, what many in Sweden had been asking for became reality when Kent released an English version of Isola, and went on an accompanying US tour. There was also an extra song only available on the English version - Velvet - on it. It was initially not meant to be released in Sweden, but public demand was too big. The English version sold poorly outside of Scandinavia.

Hagnesta Hill (1999-2000)

In 1999 Kent released Hagnesta Hill, named after Hagnestahill, a part of Eskilstuna where the band have had their first studio. The first, pre-release single, "Musik non stop", a disco-rock song, became a huge radiohit and helped bring this album up into fame. The album was faster and less ballad-focused than Isola, and also mildly experimental with drum-machines and electronics. The singer and songwriter of Kent, Jocke Berg, have later complained that he thought the album was too long, thirteen songs spread over one hour. Two more singles were released, the Depeche Mode-esque "En himmelsk drog" and the ballad "Kevlarsjäl".

Also to this album, in 2000, was an English version released, featuring two songs from the Swedish version replaced with two new English tracks. This album was also accompanied by an US tour, but again sold very poorly outside of Scandinavia. Since the debut, Kent had collected a large number of B-Sides, also with an exceptional quality, and since most of these singles were long gone out of print, it was very hard to get these legally, so in 2000 Kent released the 2CD B-side collection B-Sidor 95-00 (B-Sides 95-00). It featured 21 B-Sides, touched-up versions of two of these and two totally new songs. One of them, "Chans", were also released as a single.

Vapen & Ammunition and the White Concert (2002-2003)

After a long break, Kent started to work on their next full-length in 2002. They reported from the studio that they tried to make an album consisting of 10 singles. The first single - Dom Andra [The Others] became a megahit on Swedish radio. When the album Vapen & Ammunition ("Weapon(s) & Ammunition") came, many fans complained that the sound was too produced, poppy and commercial, and too much focused on choruses. Despite this, both next singles, Kärleken Väntar and FF from the double A-Side FF/VinterNoll2, plus the album track "Pärlor" became huge radiohits, sending this album over 500,000 sales, more than twice as much as any other Kent album then and still.

An English version of the album was planned - as can be seen on the tape titled "Guns & Ammunition" in the "Dom Andra" video, but was cancelled, according to the singer: "We decided it was not worth it (releasing the album in English) when we realized we had sat in a tour bus for two long US-tours, and nothing had happened".

Kent hadn't toured for several months when it was announced that they would do one single performance in 2003, on June 6, the Swedish national day, in Stockholms Stadion which takes a crowd of 30,000. As the band told the crowd to come there dressed in white, it was nicknamed "The White Concert". It was generally considered to be a great concert.

Du & Jag Döden and The Hjärta & Smärta EP (2005)

After taking a one-year timeout, Kent returned to the studio to record their sixth LP in 2005. Studio reports said it would be "A very black album". The first single released, Max 500, was good received by both fans and critics and became, as the last three singles had, a radio hit. When the album Du & Jag Döden (You & I Death) it was very well received and was by most fans considered it one of their best albums. Two more singles were released, "Palace & Main"´and "Den döda vinkeln" - the last one stirring up some controversy among Kent fans because Kent didn't release any B-Sides to it and not any second track at all in fact. The last track on the album, "Mannen i den vita hatten (16 år senare)" was very well received and took 747's place of always winning song polls on Kents official website.

During the summer there were rumours about Kent releasing an EP, as they had been spotted in studio and guitarist Sami had said "We might release an EP, but if we do it will only be digitally released". Just one month before the October 2005 release, the EP was confirmed, as a CD as well as a digital release. It was well received and contained five tracks, "Dom som försvann" becoming the radiosingle and getting a video recorded.

Discography

Albums and EPs

Album	Release date
Kent	March 15 1995
Verkligen	March 15 1996
Isola	November 12 1997
Isola (English version)	April 27 1998
Hagnesta Hill	December 6 1999
Hagnesta Hill (English version)	April 28 2000
B-sidor 95-00	November 29 2000
Vapen & Ammunition	April 15 2002
Du & Jag Döden	March 15 2005
The Hjärta & Smärta EP	November 2 2005

Singles in Swedish

• När det blåser på månen – When It's Windy on the Moon (1995)
• Som vatten – Like Water (1995)
• Frank (1995)
• Jag vill inte vara rädd – I Don't Want To Be Afraid (1995)
• Kräm – Cream (1996)
• Halka – Slip (1996)
• Gravitation – Gravity (1996)
• Om du var här – If You Were Here (1997)
• Saker man ser – Things One Sees (1998)
• 747 (1998)
• Musik non stop – Music Non Stop (1999)
• En himmelsk drog – A Heavenly Drug (2000)
• Kevlarsjäl – Kevlar Soul (2000)
• Chans – Chance (2000)
• Dom andra – The Others (2002)
• Kärleken väntar – Love Awaits (2002)
• FF / VinterNoll2 – WinterZero2 (2002)
• Max 500 (2005)
• Palace & Main (2005)
• Den döda vinkeln – "The Blind Spot", literally "The Dead Angle"(2005)

Singles in English

• If You Were Here
• Things She Said
• 747
• Music Non Stop

Music Videos

• När det blåser på månen (When It's Windy on the Moon)
• Frank
• Kräm (Cream)
• Gravitation (Gravitation)
• Saker man ser (Things You See)
• Om du var här (If You Were Here)
• If You Were Here
• 747 (English Version)
• Musik non stop (Music Non Stop)
• Music non stop - Video version 1
• Music non stop - Video version 2
• En himmelsk drog (A Heavenly Drug)
• Chans (Chance)
• Dom andra (The Others)
• FF
• VinterNoll2 (Winter 02 (Noll=0) )
• Kärleken väntar (Love Is Waiting)
• Max 500
• Palace & Main
• Den döda vinkeln ("The Blind Spot", literally "The Dead Angle")
• Dom som försvann (The Ones Who Disappeared)

See also: Music of Sweden

External links

• Kent - Official site
• Timekill - Unofficial Kent site
• The Official UK Kent Homepage
• English translations of the tracks on Kents new EP "the Hjärta och smärta EP"
• English translations of Kent lyrics