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The Motorhomes ReviewsSongs For Me (And My Baby) starts off with Heaven Sent, a pretty good song, but it is on the second track that the Motorhomes really create something amazing. The opening guitar dives downwards before swooping back up again magnificently, combined with the staggered drums and the singing which a friend of mine once described as ethereal. The album then delivers two more very fine ballads and then the most beautiful song I have ever heard, Into the Night. Mattias's singing sounds like that of an angel as he portrays romantic imagery of a mysterious moonlit night. As stunning as Into the Night is though, it is not the centrepiece of the album. The next song is - Slow Down, my favourite song ever, on my favourite album ever. An epic melancholic ballad, Mattias's lyrics are simple yet affecting as they come to a crescendo along with the chiming guitars at the four and a half minute mark, when Mattias's singing turns to pleading in second person as if directly to the listener, before the song drops back to a lone acoustic guitar strumming. But the song builds again, starting with Mattias's humming/moaning coming in and then building until it leads into the greatest guitar solo I have ever heard. It is skillful and powerful, yet also beautiful and sad at the same time, as the song reaches its true peak. The rest of the album is highlighted by a few songs, beginning with Pictures at Sea, a lovely romantic ballad where guitars are replaced by violins and strings, Thirteen, a more Radiohead-ish style of song, and For Tomorrow, a more upbeat song which again showcases Mattias's beautiful voice. Since this is my favourite album I would of course rate it a 10 out of 10 if asked. Seven of the eleven songs on the album are all time favourites - It's Alright, For Whom it may Concern, Into the Night, Slow Down, Pictures at Sea, Thirteen, and For Tomorrow. And the other songs would all be standouts still on most ordinary albums. If I had to describe the album to someone I guess I would say it's the Swedish version of The Bends or perhaps something like Kent's Isola, but with more beauty than both of these albums. Perhaps I would say it is happier or more joyous than these albums in some ways but I am not sure that is right because the album is often similarly bleak as well. The romantic beauty and atmosphere that the Motorhomes created here is certainly something that helped to make them one of my most beloved bands. Unfortunately on their next album this style was mostly lost as their songs took on a more pop style, apart from a couple of ballads, namely The End of the World and The End which belong with The Motorhomes' best work. That The Motorhomes broke up after only two albums truly is a tragic waste. Nevertheless we will always have this masterpiece to make us imagine what could have been. 29/09-2003 Live - Motorhomes Redux, Three Years Later Camden Underworld, Camden It was a bit of a return to an old haunting ground on Friday night. After having been to the Camden Underworld for four nights during a week I visited London in April of 2000 to see up and coming bands such as My Vitriol, Snow Patrol, Animalhouse and Sweden's Motorhomes, and I was back Friday night for a return engagement from those aforementioned Motorhomes. Seeing as they had released my favorite album of 2000 after I saw them that April and had dropped another since, I was intrigued to see and hear what there were up to in September of 2003. The quintet had suffered 40% turnover since I last laid eyes upon them, as guitarist Daniel Skaar left the band after the release of the brilliant debut Songs For Me (& My Baby) and drummer and principal songwriter Peder Claesson took leave after the completion of their sophomore body of work, The Long Distance Runner. In their places on Friday evening were keyboard player Henrik Carlsson and drummer Niklas Korssell and the band kicked off their 40-minute show with two brand new tracks, one of which had a distinctly '60s vibe. Much of the sheen and wash of Songs material had been replaced by a return to basics style of songwriting. The third song was an alternate version of the first album's "Into The Night", with the guitar line replaced by a new keyboard riff. Frontman Mattias Edlund is as pretty as ever, but his short cropped up 'do has been replaced by shoulder-length locks, even further drawing physical comparisons to Gavin Rossdale of Bush. Edlund's skyscrapring vocals were as pure as ever, as well, sending "Into The Night" into the rafters of the club. Further new songs were aired and a stripped down rendition of "For Whom It May Concern" off of Songs was rocked. Then it was the best period of the night: the Swedes ripped into my favorite Motorhomes song, bar none, 2000's amazing "It's Alright", which still had the ability to send chills up my spine. Following this was the finest track from their sophomore album, "The Man" and after that, then played another new, uptempo number that kept the heads bobbing and some extra enthusiastic crowd members dancing. And like that the gig was over, but not before instilling the crowd with the confidence of promising new material and renewed faith in the strength of old favorites. The shimmering Motorhomes of old may now be deceased, but a more classic pop-aligned Motorhomes has seamlessly taken their place. Big ups to Tomas Jernberg for arranging my entry to this wonderful evening out. by Jeremy P. Goldstein www.thetripwire.com 31/08-2003 THE MOTORHOMES Sticky Fingers Top Floor, Gothenburg Stora skivbolag gör ofta fel. De sparkar ut band för tidigt. The Motorhomes har fått sparken från Sony efter en superhit till debutalbum och en hyfsat framgångsrik andra platta. Tydligen räckte inte detta för att bandet skulle få vara kvar. Därför har Jönköpingspågarna tvingats till en nystart. Med delvis ny uppsättning och en massa färska låtar. Och den sena spelningen på Sticky Fingers i fredags visar att det bara gjort dem gott. Samt att Sony sannolikt kan stå där med lång, lång näsa. Det är nämligen ett snudd på sensationellt bra och "nytt" Motorhomes vi får se och höra. Den lite osäkra framtoning som bandet dragits med tidigare i karriären är bortblåst, nu står de där på scen som om de aldrig gjort annat och inte planerat att göra det heller. Med ny trummis och keyboardist låter de dessutom starkare, stramare, hårdare och vassare än någonsin. Något de nya låtarna drar stor nytta av. De inleder med tre helt färska saker, av vilka den första (som kanske heter Dance the night away) är den bästa låt de gjort. En stor mix av Springsteens storslagna 70-talsepos, med Bittanpiano och maffiga gitarrer, och brittisk pop som Smiths, Suede och Puressence. Fullständigt magnifikt. Resten av de nya låtarna, det blir ett flertal under kvällen, håller sig inom samma ramar. Känslosvallande pop med stora gester, ofta byggda på samma monotona och rullande piano- eller gitarrslingor och med väl utmejslade sångmelodier för sångaren Mattias Edlund. Som visar sig fått en helt ny kraft och glöd i rösten. En bra sångare har han alltid varit, men inte såhär bra. Det enda man eventuellt kan kritisera bandet för är att de är aningen slarviga i sina gamla låtar, alla spelas på tok för fort, men med nytt material av denna kaliber är det kanske inte så konstigt. by Daniel Claeson Göteborgsposten |