FREAK KITCHEN: Confusion To The Enemy (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

During the interview of Mattias IA Eklundh in April, we could talk with him about his many activities as a designer of organic clothes, guitar teacher, organizer of concerts around his favorite instrument or his musical projects with a German hardcore DJ. This would almost make us forget the existence of his band Freak Kitchen which released his ninth album "Confusion To The Enemy", four years after "Cooking With Pagans".

"Confusion To The Enemy" reiterates the approach taken in the latter, namely a majority of immediate titles in the typical style of Swedish productions with a few more daring attempts. In the direct formats, Mattias and his two acolytes rediscover the inspiration of the band's heyday when "Dead Soul Men" and "Move" sent hits with insolent ease. In this logic, the opening quarter is devastating with an irresistible 'Morons' with a light and ironic lyric that incites self-criticism, 'Alone With My Phone' with funny sound effects, the haunting 'Troll' with its highly musical refrains consolidated by well-controlled choruses, or the dynamic 'Så Kan Det Gå När Inte Haspen Är På'. Nuggets of this kind will be found a little further on in the disc with 'Push Through' with a unifying chorus sung by Christer and punctuated by a superb solo by Mattias and 'The Era Of Anxiety', a kind of crazy blues/fusion. Mattias, Christer and Bjorn are even more inspired by the seven minutes of "Confusion To The Enemy", a dark and mixed rock that draws its harmonies and percussion from Indian music. Freak Kitchen puts aside its legendary energy for three beautiful mid-tempi with delicate emotional expressions, including the poignant 'Only A Dream' based on subtly modulated melodies and light arrangements.

Beyond a happy creativity, it is the pleasure that this trio, more than ever united, takes, which transpires in each note and makes this record so endearing. A desire to let go which is particularly evident in the instrumental 'Auto', a fantasy that Freak Kitchen had not included in its repertoire since the eponymous album released twenty years ago! And God knows if in this exercise Freak Kitchen gives a lesson of class and humility to many groups who are devoted to this demanding art.

"Confusion To The Enemy" marks the return in great form of the Gothenburg trio. Although Freak Kitchen has never stopped composing, albeit at a more modest pace than at its beginnings, this record gives the impression of returning to the essence of the group after years of absence. It provides a mysterious and pleasant sensation of nostalgia because, while fully inscribed in the present, it evokes an earlier era when the discovery of each new Freak Kitchen release was accompanied by intense jubilation. - Official website

FREAK KITCHEN

CONFUSION TO THE ENEMY

AUTRE LABEL

ROCK