LUSTANS LAKEJER ELIXIR ALBUM MÄN AV SKUGGA, UNIVERSAL, STRANDED RELEASE: JANUARY 26, 2011 REVIEW: MARCH 31, 2011

One of the most legendary new wave bands from the Swedish 80:s is Lustans Lakejer. After some classic new romantic albums they got lost, driving straight into the American west coast rock-department. Later, they returned to their old style and released the album "Åkersberga" in 1999. They have then continued to play live, they have released a single, a new collection and rereleased their old albums; but now they are back with "Elixir", the first new album since 1999.

On the last album, singer and songwriter Johan Kinde looked back at his life. What has he learned twelve years later down the road? Well, he struggles and this is sort of the story about a man who has come to terms with himself and has decided to return to the nightlife, stronger than before. The music fits the lyrics as "Elixir" is more pop-oriented and electronic than "Åkersberga" and tracks like "Jag hade slutat drömma om att känna så här" works perfectly on the dancefloor. But of course Kinde can still write slow, haunting tracks like "Ung igen".

Before this album Lustans Lakejer last release was a single for the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, a far more mainstream sounding track than we were used to hear from the band. But the album has very little of this; it is a step backwards and I think that you can hear a lot of the old stuff in here. At the same time this is a band that has allowed themselves to go down new roads and move forward. Some songs are a bit weak, but overall this is a very nice return.

TOBIAS ELIASSON