Röd

Röd (Swedish for Red) is the eighth studio album by Swedish alternative rock band Kent. It was released as digital download exclusively through the band's website on 5 November 2009 and physically on 6 November 2009. The first single from the album, "Töntarna", was released as digital download on 5 October 2009. The song "Svarta linjer" was performed on the television talk show Skavlan on 30 October.

Röd is available in a standard edition and a deluxe edition box. The deluxe edition box version features the 11-track CD, a USB flash drive with high quality MP3 files as well as AIFF files, three 10" records which between them contain the whole album, and a 118-page book containing lyrics, abstract pictures and photographs. Due to distribution difficulties the deluxe edition was delayed until 11 November 2009.

Background
Lead singer Joakim Berg announced on Kent's forum on 21 April 2009, that the band had started writing songs for the album in 2008 until the beginning of April 2009 and subsequently the band had begun the recording of the album. The album is produced by Kent and Joshua, who also produced the band's previous studio album.

Eight out of 11 songs were recorded in the concert hall Meistersaal in Berlin. It was originally part of the legendary Hansa Tonstudio from the 1970s until 1991, but has since been used as a location for events. Kent had to set up their own recording studio, with the recording costs being around 3 million SEK according to Joakim Berg.

Critical reception
Anders Nunstedt of Expressen wrote: "The fact that the album was recorded in Berlin, in the Hansa Tonstudio where U2, Depeche Mode and David Bowie reinvented themselves, also says a lot. The band's eighth studio album captures the sound of a European metropolis at night, while sounding unmistakably Kent. Jocke Berg sings about highways and jet planes as well as small-town road crossings and giving someone a ride home on a bicycle. [...] Röd is certainly no Vapen & ammunition - it will be hard to find more than two working radio singles here - but the sound is world class and the quality shines through in every track."

Markus Larsson of Aftonbladet wrote: "The grandiose synth symphonies contain everything from acoustic guitars, techno beats and arena rock drums. Often in one and the same six-minute long song. It might have been unbearable to listen to if Kent didn't constantly anchor the music in fantastic melodies. Those who grow forth and illuminate the darkness in, for example, 'Vals för Satan (din vän pessimisten)', 'Sjukhus' and 'Idioter' are among the strongest songs the group have written. Röd is, above all, proof that the best pop music is always a mixture of anger, resistance and despair."

Track listing
All lyrics written by Joakim Berg. All music written by Joakim Berg and Martin Sköld.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Röd.

Kent

 * Joakim Berg – music, lyrics, vocals, guitar
 * Martin Sköld – music, bass, keyboards
 * Sami Sirviö – guitar, keyboards
 * Markus Mustonen – drums, backing vocals, keyboards, piano

Additional musicians

 * Yngve Sköld – leader of the "Tonalerna" choir on track 1
 * Johan T Karlsson – choir on track 3, 9
 * Johan Renck – choir on track 6

Technical

 * Kent – producer
 * Joshua – producer, recording, mixing on track 2, 3, 10
 * Stefan Boman – mixing on track 1, 5, 6, 9
 * Simon Nordberg – mixing on track 4, 7, 8, 11
 * Martin Brengesjö – instrument technician
 * Sebastian Meyer – assistant
 * Henrik Jonsson – mastering

Artwork

 * Annika Aschberg – photography
 * Makode Linde – photography
 * Thomas Ökvist – design, photography
 * Helen Svensson – design
 * Dora Kovács – girl on the cover