International relevance: **
With Gunnar Idering, Marie-Louice Söderström and Crister Jonasson from Fria Proteatern at the core of Höj Rösten, this album made me want to smash my furniture in anger and disgust before I had even heard it. (Patient followers of this blog know well what I think of Fria Proteatern.) But as I'm actually a very peaceful man, I restrained myself and chairs and tables are still intact around here.
What's more surprising is that Höj Rösten's lone album is actually very listenable. While the kitchen sink politics are still tiresome (it is, after all, an Oktober release), the songs themselves are much better here than on any Proteatern album. Tobias Petterson wisely points out in his ”Encyclopedia of Swedish Progressive Music” that, ”here the focus on the music content is much greater, retaining the pop sensibility from Idering's 60's band The Mascots so clearly lost on Fria Proteatern”. Very true. ”Femtio år vid maskinerna” is downright beautiful, and ”När man kör en Scania-Vabis” has a lilting groove that reminds me of a slowed-down ”Sympathy For The Devil”, and the reoccuring guitar solo retains that feel. Some biting guitar can also be heard on ”Historien är gravid”.
It's indeed a rare thing with a
political album sporting any proper interest in real songwriting –
it's almost always message before music – but this is a very fine
exception. ”Höj Rösten” is genuinely enjoyable, and it firmly
puts the lid on the garbage can where I threw my Fria Proteatern
albums and buries it right where it belongs, in the ground where all toxic waste is buried.
Full album playlist
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