I had to laugh at the irony of this album arriving just as this ‘born losers’ (as the title translates) life spirals completely out of control. Needless to say it has proved to be just the tonic and at 40 minutes it has been played on a daily basis and no doubt will continue to be spun in this fashion for some time to come. Of course Shining album number VII should have been out some time ago, it was pretty much finished when the excellent ‘VI Klagopsalmer’ was coming out on Osmose Records in 2009 but things are never really simple for these fucked up Swedes. Firstly Shining split with that particular label and were signed to Indie, which could have proved slightly odd marketing them and Shining Norway on the same label. Then there were mix ups with the mixing which delayed things even more. Tracks were played several times live from the new album, there were surprise exits from the band such as Fredric Gråby, Richard Schill and Andreas Larsen and then the album was announced as being released on new label Spinefarm.
Despite the fact that it’s only Peter Huss and Niklas Kvarforth surviving from the recording sessions of this album it should not put you off in the slightest as Född Förlorare most certainly does not live up to its name and is nothing short of a masterpiece. It has been said that this is more in line as working as a natural follow up to V Halmstad and album VI, which was more experimental in essence. Remembering the sinister innocence of the ‘When I was walking up the stairs’ intro of that, we get an equally creepy heavily accented and childlike rendition of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ here. Following this is an unmistakable belched out death grunt (don’t worry they are used really sparingly) and we swing into Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel’ (Despair, My Heredity) and it is the music that instantly transfixes with superb dismal melody and tumultuous scything guitar action jaggedly interspersed with Kvaforth’s instantly recognisable gravid rasps. If the melody sounds familiar then you probably witnessed this one live as I did about 3 times. Some of that chilling acoustic guitar work straight out of the gloom of album V also surfaces along with some clean singing, this sounds fantastic and the violence and the beauty of the track has the contrasts working in perfect harmony.
With only six tracks it has to be one of those track by track reviews. Next up is the fragile start (with trademark coughing) of ‘Tiden Läker Inga Sår’ (Time Heals No Wounds) some fan boy called Erik Danielsson (ha) joins in on this one vocally and it’s one of those retrospective slow burning songs rather than a violent one, mid paced, doomy and gloomy, bereft with loss and tinged with sadness. Having said that it explodes in a welter of bruising drum blasts and violent howls, marvellous juxtaposition and grasp of song writing yet again! Skewed lurching guitar dynamics brood in ‘Människa O'Avskyvärda Människa’ (Man, Oh Despicable Man) and the track sounds drunk with a brew addled tramp barking out the vocals. One of the missing aspects in the form of xylophone pops up as the song chills, perhaps the tramp is comatose to the lullaby vibe but as you should know it is unwise passing out on that much booze as violent vomiting is the only way you are likely to unceremoniously wake. Listen out for the scorching guitar solo by Chris Amott, it’s impossible to miss.
‘Tillsammans Är Vi Allt’ (Together We Are Everything) has slow piano build up before muscular drumming and heavyset instrumentation weighs in. Apparently one of Sweden’s biggest pop stars Nordmann joins in with the clean croons here and has an excellent voice. I’m sure there must be an interesting story behind this particular pairing and the song is another cutting one, scarring right down to the bone. Really standing out is ‘I Nattens Timma’ (In the Hour of Night) which sees Peter Bjärgö from Arcana playing piano and mellotron. It’s a gorgeous piece of music and sung in heart rending fashion. The acoustic piece really reminds of some Fabio Frizzi score from a Fulci movie which perfectly goes with the song title. Finally we have ‘FFF’…. But no more spoilers, this is an album you should be buying yourself as I will. If you love depressive music that is expertly played and constructed this is downright essential and is without doubt going to be in the top ten releases of the year. As yet it’s a bit too early to say where it is going to be placed but pretty damn high, the benchmark has been set and if you miss this you really are a fucking loser.
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