release date: Mar. 8, 2019
format: vinyl / cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,82]
producer: Mikkel Damgaard
label: A:larm / Universal - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Folkets hus" - 2. "Til jorden kommer" - 3. "Underdanmark" - 5. "Leve er at dø med stil" - 6. "British Racing Green" - 7. "Brænder boksen med smukke ting"
12th studio album by Love Shop released exactly two years succeeding Risiko from 2017 is the continued one-man project band by Jens Unmack, who keeps the old flame burning. Around him, a handful of stable collaborators help shaping a sound and style that pays tribute to the heritage of a band that basically ceased to exist in 2003, but which was re-awoken in the shape of a reduced duo in 2009 only to be cut down to a single-man project in 2011. Officially, that is, because some of these musicians have played on several Love Shop albums and toured as part of the live set. Mikkel Damgaard has been an essential keyboardist of Love Shop since 2003 - he has produced the band's studio albums since 2009 - and he has become an unofficial core member at the point when Unmack decided to continue Love Shop in 2011. Guitarist Mika Vandborg has been part of the project since 2009; Nis Tyrrestrup has played bass on the band's last three albums (since 2014), and Thomas Duus has played the drums in Love Shop without becoming official member ever since 1994, which means he is only absent on the band's first two studio albums. With this in mind, it's still a one-man project kept alive for as long as Unmack has the will, but Love Shop is also held together with musicianship that is more than mere nostalgia.
Brænder boksen... is a mature delivery, which bonds perfectly with the Love Shop heritage on one hand but also transports the band onto new solid territory laid out by the last four studio releases. A slow transformation has been on its way, arguably since the start of the band, but with the reduction of official members in the last two decades, we have witnessed various attempts in continuing a familiar style with new elements - sometimes bolder, sometimes more subtle, and with the last three albums it has become clear that a new sonic balance has occurred. Kærlighed og straf (2014) was the first to really embrace the combination of uptempo synthpop and evident singer / songwriter styles. That tempting outing was very successfully continued on Risiko, and with this, I think Unmack and co. have made another strong conglomerate of what is the essence of Love Shop. Unmack has always been a fine lyricist, and in the past that may have been secondary to the musical output, but since 2012 it has become quite clear that he has sharpened his pen, and together with a handful of strong musicians who make up a solid backbone, Unmack has created a very fine and strong document of this band's vitality where the true strength is the complete picture rather than the single songs.
Highly recommended.
[ Gaffa.dk, Soundvenue 4 / 5 stars ]
