Tillbaka till samtiden

Tillbaka till samtiden (Swedish for Back to the Present) is the seventh studio album by Swedish alternative rock band Kent. It was released on 17 October 2007 in Scandinavia through RCA Records and Sony BMG. The album is produced with Danish producer Joshua. The title means "Back to the Present", a pun on the Swedish translated title of Back to the Future (Tillbaka till framtiden).

Tillbaka till samtiden
Studio album by Kent
Released	17 October 2007 (2007-10-17)
Recorded	November 2006 – April 2007
Studio	Allaire (New York City) Park Studio (Stockholm)
Genre	Alternative rock, synthpop
Length	53:21
Label	RCA, Sony BMG
Producer	Kent, Joshua
Kent chronology
The Hjärta & Smärta EP (2005) Tillbaka till samtiden (2007) Box 1991-2008 (2008)
Singles from Tillbaka till samtiden
"Ingenting" Released: 17 September 2007 "Columbus" Released: 5 December 2007 "Generation Ex" Released: 9 April 2008 "Vy från ett luftslott" Released: 2 July 2008

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Aftonbladet	[1]
Dagbladet	[2]
Dagens Skiva	9/10[3]
Expressen	[4]
Göteborgs-Posten	[5]
Svenska Dagbladet	[6]

Background

The band began recording Tillbaka till samtiden in November 2006 in Allaire Studios in New York City.^[7] In October 2006, just one month prior to the recording sessions rhythm guitarist Harri Mänty left the band which meant it was "more vulnerable when being one man less, but it has also glued us more together", according to guitarist Sami Sirviö.^[7][8]

Musically, the band were influenced by electronic music artists such as Plastikman, Aphex Twin, and Anthony Rother. Sami Sirviö has said he was "tired of guitars" after recording the previous album, Du & jag döden (2005).^[7]

Critical reception

Anders Nunstedt of Expressen wrote: "That the songs are more electronic is only part of the explanation. Jocke Berg and Martin Sköld have remixed Kent's songwriting from scratch, without losing the thread or pushing aside the melodies. [...] But it's opening 'Elefanter' that sets the tone, an epic synth fiction in several parts where the melody is constantly building before it finally explodes into a vocoder-enhanced chorus and a rampant laptop beat."^[9]

Markus Larsson of Aftonbladet wrote: "On the seventh studio album Tillbaka till samtiden the band's love for dark synthpop is clearer than ever. The sound is very much inspired by Berlin – one of the songs is even named after the German capital – and is dominated by cold synths, bass lines and electronic rhythms. The electric and acoustic guitars keep a low profile. And the song material is, as usual, strikingly strong. Several of the tracks have such obvious melodies and choruses that should be impossible to write in 2007."^[10]

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number one in Sweden, number two in Norway, number three in Finland and number five in Denmark. It has been certified double platinum in Sweden.^[11]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Joakim Berg.

Tillbaka till samtiden track listing

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Elefanter" (Elephants)	Joakim Berg	5:21
2.	"Berlin"	Berg, Martin Sköld	4:36
3.	"Ingenting" (Nothing)	Berg	4:17
4.	"Vid din sida" (By Your Side)	Berg, Sköld	4:55
5.	"Columbus"	Berg, Sköld	4:26
6.	"Sömnen" (The Sleep)	Berg, Sköld	4:08
7.	"Vy från ett luftslott" (View from a Castle in the Air)	Berg, Sköld	4:23
8.	"Våga vara rädd" (Dare to Be Afraid)	Berg	3:59
9.	"LSD, någon?" (LSD, Anyone?)	Berg	4:20
10.	"Generation Ex"	Berg, Sköld	4:30
11.	"Ensammast i Sverige" (Loneliest in Sweden)	Berg	8:20

Personnel

Promo photo of the band from 2007 (from left to right): Sköld, Sirviö, Berg, and Mustonen

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tillbaka till samtiden.

Kent

• Joakim Berg – music, lyrics, vocals, guitar
• Martin Sköld – music on track 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, bass, keyboards
• Sami Sirviö – guitar, keyboards
• Markus Mustonen – drums, backing vocals, keyboards, piano

Additional musicians

• Goran Kajfes – trumpet on track 1, 8
• Camela Leierth – vocals on track 7, 10

Technical

• Kent – production
• Joshua – production, recording, mixing
• Martin Brengesjö – instrument technician
• Stephanie DuFresne – recording assistant
• Chris Athens – mastering

Artwork

• Jonas Linell – photography
• Helen Svensson – design, photography
• Thomas Ökvist – design, photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Tillbaka till samtiden Chart (2007) Peak position Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[12] 5 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[13] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[14] 2 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Tillbaka till samtiden Chart (2007) Position Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 1 Chart (2008) Position Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[17] 55 Certifications Country Certification (sales thresholds) Sweden[11] 2× Platinum