En plats i solen (Kent album)

En plats i solen (Swedish for A Place in the Sun) is the ninth studio album by Swedish alternative rock band Kent. It was released on 30 June 2010, just eight months after the release of their previous album, Röd, but was released exclusively as digital download on the band's website on 23 June. The album is produced primarily with Swedish producer Stefan Boman, who worked with the band on Du & jag döden from 2005. The lead single, "Gamla Ullevi" / "Skisser för sommaren", was released on 14 June 2010, the same day as the band announced the album details.

Background
The album was written and recorded in the early spring of 2010, and was finished on 8 June. Some of the songs are leftovers from the recording of Röd. Lead singer Joakim Berg told Svenska Dagbladet that they wanted to record the songs "while they were still fresh".

Critical reception
Håkan Steen of Aftonbladet wrote: "If the album Röd was an unusually ambitious experiment with synths, En plats i solen feels like the album where the new electronics have settled in as a natural part of Kent's sound. [...] It sounds comfortable and harmonious, perhaps a little more directly pop and dance than in a long time. In 'Gamla Ullevi' computer game electronics meet feverish Latin rhythms. [...] This is not to say that the band have in any way made an upbeat party record. En plats i solen sounds more like the soundtrack to hungover July Sundays and sentimental August evenings, where the music soothes and Jocke Berg's lyrics add comforting thoughts about transience and the eternal search for something more."

Glenn Olsen of Lydverket wrote: "En plats i solen is the band's ninth album, and is released just over six months after their eighth, Röd. The turn towards electronica continues, songs like 'Ismael' and 'Gamla Ullevi' sound as if they have already been remixed by Familjen or The Tough Alliance. [...] The album alternates nicely between uptempo club bangers, mid-tempo pop songs and delicate ballads, such as the beautiful closing duet 'Passagerare' where Jocke Berg is joined by the jazz singer Rebecka Törnquist. [...] They make it sound so annoyingly easy. Airy, playful and effortless, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to create the perfect soundtrack for the coming summer."

Daniel Magnusson of Gaffa wrote: "En plats i solen feels like a last-minute trip. A spontaneous idea. The idea that things may go a little as they go and the end result will be neither fully satisfactory nor nightmarish."

Asbjørn Moe of Groove.no wrote: "If there's anyone who can write depressing lyrics and sad melodies, it's Kent. Although this record in many ways has a lighter and brighter overall expression than the previous releases, they manage to balance the album's 10 songs both with catchy and danceable hits, but also the dark ballads that are the very trademark of the band. That is perhaps the reason why En plats i solen can excite an even larger audience than before."

Commercial performance
The album peaked at number one in Sweden and Finland, number two in Norway and number four in Denmark.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of En plats i solen.

Kent

 * Joakim Berg – music, lyrics, vocals, guitar
 * Martin Sköld – music on track 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, bass, keyboards
 * Sami Sirviö – guitar, keyboards
 * Markus Mustonen – drums, backing vocals, keyboards, piano

Additional musicians

 * Sebastian Meyer – percussion, choir on track 3
 * Joakim Milder – strings arrangement and conductor
 * Stockholm Session Strings – strings
 * Anders "Boba" Lindström – choir on track 4
 * Lars Winnerbäck – choir on track 4
 * Heikki Kiviaho – choir on track 7
 * Rebecka Törnqvist – duet on track 10

Technical

 * Kent – producer
 * Stefan Boman – producer and mixing
 * Joshua – production on track 2, 3, 5
 * Martin Brengesjö – instrument technician
 * Sebastian Meyer – recording assistant
 * Hoffe Stannow – mastering

Artwork

 * Anders Thessing – photography
 * Thomas Ökvist – design, photography
 * Helen Svensson – design