Wonderland
Eric Berglund charmed us as half of the Swedish indie pop duo The Tough Alliance. On his own as ceo, he makes an about-face, producing sounds drenched in mystery and ephemeral beauty. Even on ceo’s 2010 debut, *White Magic*, his artful strokes of orchestral grandeur were cloaked in an ambience of, well, magic and impermeability. On *Wonderland*, Berglund goes further and a bit darker. The poppiest numbers here—“Whorehouse” and “Wonderland”—are only poppy in that they feel effervescent and uplifting, whether due to cottony choruses or bright, neon flickers of keyboards and perky percussion. On the former, Berglund warns: “No one can protect me from my game,” while a breezy raft of synth notes float and bounce. The title track glistens with effervescence, but helium-processed vocals ooze in the background, while a feral, barking snippet drives the tune. The instrumentals “Juju\" and “Bubble on a Stream” further juxtapose unsettling vocal textures with ambient loveliness. Countless moments on *Wonderland* just don’t make sense in an “inside the box” way, and therein lies its beauty.
On 2010's White Magic, Swedish producer CEO—aka the Tough Alliance's Eric Berglund—suggested he'd made peace with the contradictions between creativity and publicity, self-expression and selling yourself. His new Wonderland is luxuriantly widescreen and eccentrically detail-rich as ever.
On 2010's White Magic, Swedish producer CEO—aka the Tough Alliance's Eric Berglund—suggested he'd made peace with the contradictions between creativity and publicity, self-expression and selling yourself. His new Wonderland is luxuriantly widescreen and eccentrically detail-rich as ever.
An album that demonstrates Eric Berglund's confidence and natural knack for making even saccharine pop sound glamorous, edgy and enticing.
An album that demonstrates Eric Berglund's confidence and natural knack for making even saccharine pop sound glamorous, edgy and enticing.
This is an incredibly strange record. The experimentation with knife-edge sharp pop and avant garde electronics recalls Canada's Doldrums, but where Doldrums transfigured a diverse stew of influences into anthemic psych-rock techno jams, CEO instead briefly occupy bizarre, ill-considered sonic realms
This is an incredibly strange record. The experimentation with knife-edge sharp pop and avant garde electronics recalls Canada's Doldrums, but where Doldrums transfigured a diverse stew of influences into anthemic psych-rock techno jams, CEO instead briefly occupy bizarre, ill-considered sonic realms
Review Of The New LP From CEO "Wonderland". The album will be out on February 4th via Modular Recordings. The first single of the LP is "Whorehouse".
Review Of The New LP From CEO "Wonderland". The album will be out on February 4th via Modular Recordings. The first single of the LP is "Whorehouse".