COLONY 5 STRUCTURES ALBUM MEMENTO MATERIA RELEASE: MAY 19, 2003 REVIEW: MAY 19, 2003

Swedish electropoppers Colony 5 stirred up quite a buzz with their first official release "Lifeline" last year. And, what it seemed, divided the electropop audience into two camps. Those, like me, who embraced the futurepoppish, chorus-driven atmosphere of their work and those who argued that their lyrics were terrible and dismissed the music as too much of a rip off. I can agree to some extent on the lyrics, although I like the occasional "back-to basics" feel they conveyed in, for instance, "Stay Young". Most of these lingual flaws and grammatical errors have since been rectified by new member Magnus Kalnins, specifically called in to handle lyrical duties.
Musically, "Structures" is a natural development from "Lifeline". The key features are still catchy melodies and those hymn-like choruses they are so adept at creating. A step up lyrically and musically (in a technical sense) makes for interesting listening, but I find some of the songs tend to stagger in their very foundation. "Black", the single, works very well, as does "Hate" and "Band of Brothers", but a track like "Synchronized Hearts" seems, while energetic and packed with hooks, to lack in originality. Maybe they have used the same idea too many times?
What Colony 5 are good at, though, possibly better than most of their colleagues, is a sense of melody and almost powerpop-like refrains. And that certainly gives them an edge.

NIKLAS FORSBERG